Celebrating Veterans Day in the classroom

Achiever, The,  Oct, 2006  

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Veterans Day marks the time appointed each year on Nov. 11 to pay tribute to the nation's veterans who have honorably served our country. To commemorate this occasion, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently released an updated version of its resource guide to help elementary through high school teachers educate their students on the contributions 25 million living veterans have made toward ensuring America's freedom.

Honoring All Who Served is available online at http://www.va.gov/vetsday and includes:

> Teacher Resources--suggested programs for celebrating this holiday, such as a school assembly, musical performance or flag-raising ceremony.

> Kid's Packet--activities for students in grades 4-7, including a word scramble, a maze and pages for coloring, along with directions for how to treat the American flag.

> Student Resources--information for students in grades 8-12, including the history of Veterans Day, the story of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, statistics on America's wars and contacts to scholarships for dependent students of American veterans.

Schools across the country received a CD-ROM of the resource guide in September, which also included five video segments featuring, among them, actress Jennifer Love Hewitt describing ways students can help veterans by volunteering at VA hospitals or with veterans service organizations such as Disabled American Veterans. Another video segment highlights a youth volunteer from Michigan who wrote a book about the veterans he met. And one segment focuses on wounded veterans who served in Iraq and how they are learning to overcome new challenges through participation in VA's National Rehabilitation Special Events.

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