Shelton School Honors Veterans

Photo: Ethan FryA small jar of ash from the island of Iwo Jima — an inhospitable, volcanic dot in the Pacific Ocean where nearly 7,000 Americans died in World War II — sits on a shelf above the desk of Carolyn Ivanoff, a headmaster at Shelton Intermediate School.

The jar was given to her years ago by a friend who wrote a book in the 1980s about Ira Hayes, one of the six marines immortalized by the Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal’s Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.”

Ivanoff told an audience of students and veterans Monday morning that the sand serves as a tangible reminder of what veterans have done for the country.

When I look at it, I always remember my father, my uncles, and all of the greatest generation who served,” Ivanoff said during a program honoring veterans at the school Monday. She urged students to hold military veterans in reverence.

Photo: Ethan FryDozens of veterans, students, and officials gathered in the school’s auditorium for a Veterans Day program organized by the school’s enrichment students. 

The day began with a breakfast honoring those who have served in the military.

It was just one event of many throughout the city Monday honoring veterans and those currently serving in the military for their service.

Student-made models of the stone memorials from the city’s Riverwalk commemorating city natives who lost their lives in service to the country stood in the school’s lobby.

Students read poems honoring veterans and discussed the holiday’s history, and the history of the country’s military conflicts.

Ivanoff read The Boys of Iwo Jima,” a touching account of a talk given by Flags of Our Fathers” author James Bradley at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, VA.

Several students made a video presentation with testimonials of why Veterans Day is important.

The program concluded with a multimedia presentation detailing the country’s military conflicts in the past century, from World War I to Iraq and Afghanistan, with ended with a simple message:

Dear Veterans, Thank you for risking your life to protect us.”

Photo: Ethan FryThe school’s headmaster, Kenneth Saranich, echoed the sentiment while thanking his father, an Air Force veteran, during the ceremony.

Thank you, dad, for your service to our country,” he said. 

Shelton began having school on Veterans Day four years ago, Superintendent Freeman Burr said monday, and though reaction was mixed at the time — some thought schools should have the day off. But seeing students bring in parents and relatives for Monday’s program convinced him that we made the absolute correct decision.”

Board of Education Chairman Mark Holden agreed.

This is a much better thing to do that give kids the day off,” he said.

Photo: Ethan FryMayor Mark Lauretti told students to remember that the U.S. military continues to be a beacon of freedom across the globe while thanking veterans at Monday’s ceremony.

Thank you to all the veterans who are here today for your service to your country, and not only to your country, but freedom around the world,” Lauretti said. It sometimes goes unappreciated.”

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