The Veterans Day Standard
Written by Olivia Earp, Former Student on Thursday, November 16, 2017
As many students know, Veterans Day is a big deal at Snohomish High School. The stadium which sits on the northeast corner of campus is known as Veterans Memorial Stadium even, to honor all of the Panthers that have fallen in war. Every year, Snohomish organizes a Veterans Day Assembly, but this year was a special one.
The Associated Student Body (ASB) chooses to run this assembly each year because it meant a lot to someone very important to the students at SHS.
Former government teacher Tuck Gionet was very passionate about the Veterans Day Assembly and always took it very seriously. Since his passing in the summer of 2015, John McPherson has taken over the organizing of the annual assembly.
Although Gionet could not be at the assembly on Monday, November 6, Captain Lennon the SHS JROTC instructor, opened the assembly by spreading an important message of "If not me, then who?"
The "If not me then who?" message pulls in all kinds of different groups for a common mission, which is why the message was important to share at SHS.
To represent the students of SHS that passed away in war, the ASB found 81 honorable students and staff members to represent them. During the assembly, the Panthers sat in chairs around the gym as they waited for their time to honor the fallen. When the name was called of the person they were representing and a bell was rung, the student or faculty member walked out, placed the chair in a certain spot, and stood behind it. After all 81 names were called and the bell was rung, you could see the chairs and Panthers standing to spell out SHS.
"I thought it went fantastic. We got nothing but positive reviews from the folks that attended it. I thought it was really moving to see the chairs up there. " said Lennon about the assembly.
The message that this assembly gave was very emotional, and it was a way to show how much of a lasting impact these soldiers made on their alma mater, and how they still have a place at SHS.
When asked about how the Snohomish community could honor veterans, Lennon said "Through our actions. We can live by that motto 'If not me, then who?', and when there is something that needs to be addressed, we address it, and I think that’s how we honor them."
