Special to the News
Students, staff, community members, but most importantly, veterans attended the Coosa County Schools’ annual program to honor our veterans Monday, under the direction of Central Elementary School (CES) principal Kara Forbus.
The program was a collaborative effort of students and staff and was emceed by CES sixth grade students. The program opened with the recitation of the “Pledge of Allegiance,” followed by the singing of the national anthem, accompanied by the Central band, directed by Mr. Daryl Ingram.
Ingram then led the elementary students in performing “Colonel Bogey’s Grand Ole Flag.” Student emcees then welcomed the guest speaker for the program, Colonel James Norman McDonald. Col. McDonald entered the military service in 1966 and served in various overseas locations, including Korea and Desert Storm. He shared with the students the five P’s of success, proper planning prevents poor performance, and how his military training helped him to achieve success.
The audience was then treated to a PowerPoint that featured veterans, past and present, from Coosa County who have served in the U.S. military. The choir sang “God Bless the U.S.A.,” and Central High School Student Government Association (SGA) members recited the poem “Veterans Day” by Cherly Dyson.
The band closed out the program by playing the service medleys, with veterans standing as their respective service medley was played.
A reception was held after the program to honor the veterans and their families. Refreshments were provided by SGA. Thank you to Ms. Jordan Bryant for organizing the reception.
Also on Monday, students at Central High School participated in a Veterans Day education activity in their history classes led by SGA members Lamiya Harrison, Aniya Horton and Aerial Green. Last week each on-campus history student was provided with a form to take home and fill out regarding a family member or family friend who is a veteran.
After showing a brief video on the history of Veterans Day and an inspirational video, SGA members led students in creating a pennant to honor the veteran they researched for their form. The pennants were then strung together to create the Veterans Wall of Honor that will remain on display for the month of November.
Thank you to all our veterans who were able to attend, as well as those who were not able to attend. We are thankful for your service and the opportunity to honor you.
Col. James Norman McDonald
