More Than 100 Local Veterans To Be Honored By Lawrence Middle School With Special Ceremony

CHATSWORTH, Calif. - Oct. 27, 2015 - PRLog -- Ernest Lawrence Middle School will host a special Veterans Day reception, ceremony and student assembly – sponsored by the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) – for more than 100 local servicemen and women on Thursday, November 12, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at its campus located at 10100 Variel Avenue, Chatsworth, CA 91311.

         Led by Mrs. Marylee Pena, a Reading Intervention instructor and Mr. Bruce Troe, an English Language Development teacher and a veteran himself who served in the Air National Guard (1978 – 2006), the school has held this event since 2006 in an effort to educate students, faculty, staff and the community about Veterans Day and honor veterans.

         “Kids have Veterans Day off, but they don’t know what it’s all about,” said Mr. Troe. “This is why we make the event kid-friendly with two student assemblies throughout the day, so that kids get involved. They interview the veterans – hear their first-hand stories – and learn about Veterans Day and what it means to do service,” said Mr. Troe.

         According to Troe, the event has grown from 35 veterans who participated in the first year, to nearly 150 veterans. “Over the years, veterans have sent me photos, certificates and other items of importance to them that are displayed in the Lawrence library. The most gratifying part of this for me is seeing how the veterans respond to the kids because they are so pleased that someone recognizes them for the time they gave in service to our country – someone as young as the kids. It’s thrilling for them to enter the auditorium to patriotic music and students standing, clapping and cheering,” he added.

         The event will begin with a reception at 10:00 a .m. in the school library where students, staff, friends, family and neighbors will greet the nearly 150 veterans who participate each year from the veterans hospital Sepulveda Care Facility, 261^st Squadron of the Air National Guard in Van Nuys, and Wings over Wendy’s – a World War II veterans group that meets at a local Wendy’s restaurant each month.

         At 11:00 a.m. students will escort the veterans to a ceremony and lunch held in the school’s auditorium where the band will perform, students will do a cadence call (march and drill) and skit explaining Veterans Day, and they will provide the veterans with supplies requested through a Veteran’s Wish List at the end of the event.

         In addition to this event, Mr. Troe and Ms. Pena work with students on a “Medal of Honor” program at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. The program is made available to selected students to give them a better understanding of service. On November 20, 2015, he will also take 120 students to the Reagan Library to participate in the “Interview a Veteran” project and see a replica of the Vietnam War Memorial during “The Wall That Heals” exhibit in honor of Vietnam War veterans.

         “These activities bring history to life for our students and help them learn more about the sacrifices that these brave men and women have made. More importantly, it gives them a better understanding about what service means – doing it, because it’s the right thing to do.”

For more information about Ernest Lawrence Middle School’s special Veteran’s Day Ceremony contact Mr. Bruce Troe at (818) 678-7900.