Ken Georgevits asked the several hundred students gathered in the gym at Abbot-Downing Elementary School to raise their hands if they knew a veteran. Arms shot up around the room.
“Veterans Day, we recognize all veterans alive and deceased,” said Georgevits, who served in the Navy for 26 years, working in aerospace engineering.
He explained to the students that Veterans Day initially marked the end of World War I, “at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”
Abbot-Downing has hosted a Veterans Day assembly for almost a decade. Following the gathering, students and staff line the halls for a parade of service members. This year, around a dozen local veterans joined the school for the event, with a presentation by Georgevits, or “Commander Ken,” as he introduced himself to the kindergarten through fifth graders.
Georgevits has been giving Veterans Day and Memorial Day presentations at local schools for around two and a half decades. At each presentation, he plays a video showing each branch of service and its corresponding song, asking the veterans in attendance to stand when their branch comes onto the screen.
For Joshua Farwell, who served four years in the Army, the day provides an opportunity to recognize people who may otherwise fly under the radar.
“If you went up to any of these people and asked them if they thought they were special for serving, they’d tell you they weren’t,” Farwell said. “And that’s exactly what makes them special.”
He said he felt grateful to attend Monday’s event.
“I know it hasn’t always been easy for veterans,” Farwell said. “I feel like specifically Concord does an awesome job appreciating and supporting their veterans.”
Fifth grader Ivy Holmes said she likes the Veterans Day programming each year. Holmes explained that her grandfather Paul, who lives in Massachusetts, is a veteran, so the day always makes her feel close to him.
She said her favorite part is “seeing the veterans come to our school.”
Principal Anthony Blinn took a moment at the end of Monday’s assembly to acknowledge all the veterans who joined the event.
“Thank you for your service, and also your families,” Blinn said. “We talk about the veterans, but it’s really important to talk about your families, because they’re part of you being a veteran as well. So thank you to you and your families.”
Loudon, too, sought to incorporate veterans into its recent educational endeavors ahead of Veterans Day.
A group of Loudon Elementary School fourth- and fifth-graders visited the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton last month ahead of the national holiday.
The trip involved about a dozen members of the school’s Student Council, a leadership group. The students interviewed veterans about their service and life experiences since then, Principal David Bartlett said.
“It was just a great experience for the kids to meet these veterans and hear their stories and just connect generations,” Bartlett said.
The oldest veteran the students met was 97 years old and likely served in World War II, Bartlett said.
After returning to school, the students wrote reflections about their experiences and are preparing presentations that they will deliver to each classroom at Loudon Elementary this week.
The trip to the Veterans Home was the first for the school, but they try to participate in a Veterans Day-related activity each year, Bartlett said.
“It was just our way of showing respect and showing appreciation,” he said. “The kids just really liked the experience and hopefully we can do more of it.”
