Seasons of Service

 

Veterans Day ~ November 11

 

What better way to beat the Holiday Gimmees and observe Red Letter Days than to practice good deeds? Here's a way to discover the true meaning of holidays and heroes. Please join us in celebrating the following Season of Service.


The eleventh hour, eleventh day, eleventh month signaled the end of World War I in 1918. That is why we choose November 11 to honor veterans. How many young people know this? How can they serve the men and women who have served our country? Here are ways students can salute our valiant veterans all year long.

Observe National Veterans Awareness Week (November 10 - November 16) in school. Display posters from the Department of Veterans of Affairs in the cafeteria or other central areas.

 

Participate in the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress. Obtain a Project Kit and contribute to this national oral history initiative.

 

Hold a Veterans Teach-in with materials from the Veterans Day Teacher Resource Guide. Prepare and share lessons with younger students.

 

Write a skit about Veterans Day. Produce it a school assembly for students, families, and members of local veterans organizations.

 

Research the history of Veterans Day. Exchange stories and memories of past observances at a local senior center or nursing home.

 

Visit a local veterans homeless shelter. Help serve wherever needed.

 

Create and send holiday cards to hospitalized veterans at local Veterans Health Administration Facilities.

 

Work with local veterans to decorate veterans' graves in nearby cemeteries.

 

Write letters to service men and women. Send them through local Red Cross Chapter.

 

Sponsor a schoolwide Salute to Veterans Day. Select activities for each grade level. Publicize events in school and local newspapers.

 

Recall local fallen war heroes. Write their stories. Create a memorial wall. Make a quilt honoring service men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.

 

More Veterans Day Web Sites

Thanks to Marilyn Hyder for contributing to this Season of Service page.
Thanks to Cheryl Brown Green for the above photo.