Students Interview Vets, Explore 'What Veterans Day Means To Me'

DARIEN, IL — The 8th-graders at Eisenhower Junior High School were a bit nervous and excited when they sat down to conduct interviews for a veterans day project, but the service men and women seemed a little bit nervous and excited too. They were, after all, sharing their personal experiences about combat and service with the students, but they were also playing an integral role in helping the students define "What Veterans Day Means To Me."

Each year when teacher Melissa McGannon kicks off the 6-week project, many of her students have never met a veteran and some aren't aware that their great-grandparents, grandparents, and even parents served our country.

McGannon told Patch she started the project a few years ago after her own grandfather, a World War II Navy Veteran, passed away. "I always think of him around any holiday that observes [and] honors our military men and women and I was thinking to myself, 'Man, I really should have listened to all those stories he used to tell.'" She wanted to give her students the chance to hear veterans' stories firsthand, so she and fellow teacher Jorie Klip made "What Veterans Day Means To Me" an annual tradition for their students.

"Many kids didn't even know that their father [or] mother was in the military or that they had an uncle or grandfather that fought in WWII or Vietnam," she said. "I love how this project promotes different kinds of conversations at home."

For students who don't have a family member to interview, the teachers arrange for a service member to come to their classrooms for an in-person interview that involved the students learning about a veteran or service members jobs in their branch of the military and of their personal experiences.

The three-part project begins with students reading a novel that's based in the U.S. military, interviewing a veteran or current service member, and then making a visual depiction of their answer to "What Veterans Day Means To Me."

One hallway at Eisenhower Junior High is transformed into the Hall of Heroes, its walls lined with poster board adorned with black and white photos of grandparents who served and more recent photos of aunts, parents, and siblings who served, along with hand-written accounts of the interviews and their impact on students.

During the interviews over the years, students have gotten glimpses into how different day-to-day life for a service member is than for a civilian. "Every day was a test for our soldiers to overcome unknown obstacles. They found the strength to fight on and complete the jobs they were given, even if it went against their personal beliefs," student Maylee Aver wrote.

They also learned —through sobering personal tales— what Veterans Day means to veterans.

A Korean War paratrooper shared a story of being one of three survivors in a squadron of 40. A Vietnam Army veteran, Bill Tomany, told a student of how his mother was worried he'd be shot if he came home in his uniform. He told the student, "I fought for my country and I'm proud of that. Kill me or not, I will respond with Vietnam."

"I want these kids to have a greater appreciation for our military and our country," McGannon said. As you walk the Hall of Heroes, one theme is repeated over and over in the "What Veterans Day Means To Me" projects that show that McGannon is achieving her goal. As one student said, "We should remember [veterans] on all 365 days of the year."

>>Image credits: Melissa McGannon

>>Pictured in images from left to right: Riley Ranay, Maylee Aver, Madylin Motherway, Emma Sawler, Morgan Hawthorne