Veterans Day is being celebrated a little differently at Tahoma High School this year. Students will participate in multiple thoughtful class activities to venerate those who served and convey their appreciation, through a letter sent to either a family member who has served or a random individual currently serving.

Many Tahoma students and staff are curious as to why this year’s celebration looks different from the traditional Veterans Day assembly. After a conversation with Ryan Simpson, Leadership & Alternative Educator at Tahoma High School, we now have a better understanding of why we schedule our events this way. Educators at Tahoma High School have expressed their concern about the number of assemblies each year being excessive and taking too much time away from class. The solution to this issue was for the MLK and Veterans Day Assembly to alternate annually and replace it with an in-class activity. This has allowed us to maximize class time and still honor those who served, just in a different way.

The in-class activity has not been met with negative feedback. However, some students such as Nick Atherton are still disappointed that they didn’t get to attend an assembly. Atherton went on to state that, “Veterans Day is pretty important to me, and shows how much we appreciate those who served. I think it’s worth an assembly every year.”

Dr. Cary Collins, Tahoma High School Military & Washington State History Teacher, Vice-President of the Greater Maple Valley Veterans Memorial Foundation, and volunteer at Tahoma National Cemetery has put together our activity this year. However, Veterans Day isn’t just an in-class activity for his Military History students. For the past 27 years, Collins has taken his class to Tahoma National Cemetery, the final resting place of over 70,000 heroes and their families, where his students assist the middle school students with planting an American flag in front of every individual grave to commemorate and honor their service.