On November 11, the United States of America celebrates Veterans Day, a day to appreciate all of the people who have served in the U.S. military. At Westerville North, an annual assembly is held to honor the veterans who are connected in some way to WNHS.
The assembly started with a performance of the Star Spangled Banner from the choir, and the orchestra, and was interpreted by the American Sign Language (ASL) 3 and 4 students.
Emily Berrigan, the ASL 3 & 4 teacher at South and North has been working with her students for a month in preparation for signing the “Star Spangled Banner.” “The Star Spangled Banner” is not necessarily hard to teach; “it is pretty easily understood so there is not much teaching on my end,” Berrigan said. The ASL students picked it up quickly, and Berrigan says she was impressed with her 10 period class because they picked it up without any ASL 4 students to lead the way.
The WNHS choir and orchestra performed the song “Hymn to Freedom” in addition to “The Star Spangled Banner” following Principal Kurt Yancey’s opening remarks. “I thought that [the choir and orchestra] did a very good job,” Johnny Jackson, a WNHS track coach, Army veteran and guest speaker, said.
Phillip Adu-Acheampong (‘26) read the famous poem “In Flanders Field” written by John Mcrae. The poem symbolizes the lives of military men that have gone missing in action by describing the beauty before a battle from WWI where about a million soldiers were wounded, missing or killed in action.
Jackson spoke about what being proud to serve his country means to him. He said that although the different branches of the military always debate who has the harder job, they are all one military and are proud to serve their country. Neither Westerville South nor Central holds a ceremony like the Veterans Day Assembly at North; “I found out that the other two schools don’t do anything like this, so for [North] to put this on, I thought it was good,” Jackson said.
Then, he introduced the tradition of the 13 folds of Old Glory. He announced the meaning behind each fold while a veteran from the Westerville Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. organization (VFW), Andrew Tompkins and a veteran parent of a North student demonstrated the method of folding the flag.
Following the 13 folds ceremony, two trumpet players from the WNHS band, Caroline Williams (‘25) and Leo Garcia (‘25), played Taps. Taps is a well-known bugle call that not only signals the ending of the military day, but also signifies a call to remember and honor those who have died while serving in the U.S. military.
In addition to the veteran who volunteered for the demonstration, the VFW provided the school with a new display: the “Missing Man Table”. It symbolizes the remembrance of prisoners of war and those missing in action. There are 10 items incorporated in the setup of the table, each representing a different aspect of those who are missing in action.
