By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
Thank you.
That’s the message students and staff members at Alamo Elementary School in Otsego sent to some local veterans on Friday, Nov. 10.
Alamo held its annual Veterans Day breakfast on Friday, Nov. 10, with 35 veterans taking part in the event.
The veterans were family members or friends of Alamo students.
Special education teacher Jamie Siegler helped organize the breakfast.
“The breakfast went very well this year,” she said. “Our volunteers did a great job with all the food. We also donated the leftovers to the Alamo Nursing Home where we were able to serve even more veterans there.”
Each veteran also received a thank-you card made by a student, with other cards being distributed to veterans throughout the county.
The Veterans Day breakfast started in 2017 when a former staff member brought it with her from a school at which she had previously worked. And although that staff member is no longer at the school, the breakfast has continued, with the exception of the COVID years.
“It’s important to recognize our amazing veterans with this breakfast because it shows a token of our appreciation for their service to our country,” Siegler said. “These amazing men and women have made such a sacrifice to defend us. Each and every one of them deserves to be recognized.
“I believe we are able to do that with bringing the veterans of our school together. The staff and students take time to learn about Veterans Day within their classroom prior to the celebration.”
And while honoring the veterans is the primary reason for the breakfast, Siegler said it also serves as a great lesson to the students.
“The students are able to learn what Veterans Day is all about with a variety of in-class activities,” she said. “Each student writes a letter to a veteran to thank them for their service. The students gain an understanding of how important the military is and why it is important to celebrate our veterans.”
As part of the breakfast, one of the fifth-grade students performed “America the Beautiful.”