The NHS National Honor Society hosted our annual Veteran’s Day Assembly on Friday November 8th, 2024. This formal presentation started with the president of the club, Mikayla Deiter, announcing the presentation of the colors by Boy Scout Troop 222; Garret Jenny, Tanner Rice, and Hendrick Keilman were the attending scouts.
Under the direction of Mrs. Rebecca Wiles, the high school choir then sang the National Anthem as an acapella piece. Following the National Anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance was spoken in unison by students and staff. The choir then sang “In Flanders Fields” arranged by Roger Emerson, featuring soloists Riley Babski, Sophia Griffin, and Hannah Mallonee.
Each year, the National Honor Society chooses an organization to donate to for their veterans service project. Senior Adison Geer presented a $500 check to “Homes for our Troops”, a nonprofit organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 veterans to enable them to rebuild their lives. Some of the presenters were Seniors Gracyn Shutt, Benny Stewart, and Dieter. 
Then the High School concert band took the stage, performing the “Armed Forces Salute.” The arrangement featured songs from all branches of the military. After weeks of searching, the guest speaker for the assembly was Sergeant 1st class Nevin Fisher. Deiter says, “The most difficult part was trying to get a speaker. We had several people who backed out or just didn’t respond, so we were working on that up to the day before.” Sergeant Fisher joined the Army Reserves in 1990 before going into active duty in 1995. He has completed two tours in Iraq, one tour in Panama, and was a drill sergeant for many years before retiring in 2015. Sergeant Fisher talked about many things. The first being about the colors of the flag and what they stand for: red for bravery, white for purity, and blue for justice. The next thing he spoke about was the flag pole. On military grounds, flagpoles have a hollow ball on the top. This is called the “truk”. This ball shaped cap contains a razor blade, a match, a bullet, and the constitution. The razor blade to cut the flag, the match for burning the flag after properly disassembled as well as the constitution, the bullet because the commanding officer cannot be taken hostage (death before being held hostage), and the constitution because it is our constitution.
Before closing out the assembly, the National Honor Society debuted a slideshow filled with students and staffs’ family members who have served and are currently serving the United States along with a brief summary of who they are, what they did, and a picture. Mrs. Nichole Briggs commented, “I enjoyed the slideshow, but I wished the technology would have worked. I feel bad that the same songs were playing over and over again, but I think that it’s important for students to be able to see veterans that they know or veterans of someone else that they know. It makes it feel more real to students and allows them to understand the importance of the holiday a bit more.” Mrs. Briggs concluded this formal presentation with a massive thank you to everyone who helped put this assembly together. Deiter states, “My favorite part of the assembly was definitely the musical performances. Getting to see all of the hard work pay off for both of the ensembles was very rewarding.”
