New Canaan Public Schools To Honor Veterans On Nov. 11

From New Canaan Public Schools: NEW CANAAN, CT — To honor our veterans on Veterans Day, Monday, November 11, 2019, New Canaan Public Schools will be presenting programs throughout the district that include several dozen veterans visiting schools as guests of honor and speaking to students, special assemblies and programs, music performances, and hallway displays reflecting students’ heartfelt gratitude and thanks.

What follows is a listing of the planned district-wide programs taking place. All programs are
designed for students and invited guests. Events are not open to the public.

Elementary Schools:
East Elementary School will host its annual Veterans Day Assembly on Monday, November 11,
to show gratitude and respect for the veterans who have served our country with courage and
honor. Approximately 25 veterans - all family members of East School students - will attend the
assembly as honored guests. East School Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts will present the Color
Guard and lead the Pledge of Allegiance. East School students will sing songs from each branch
of the Armed Forces, along with other patriotic songs, and fourth grade speakers will present the
history of Veterans Day. Bundles of cards made by East students will be presented to each
veteran.

South Elementary School’s annual Veterans Day Assembly will be held on Monday morning,
November 11. Guests of honor who have served our country are invited each year so that the
school community can express its gratitude for their service. Many of the veterans are family
members of staff and students and members of our community, and some are even staff
members at South School. The event begins with a hallway march, in which students carrying
American flags lead our veterans into assembly.

West Elementary School students will attend patriotic presentations on Monday, November 11,
at a morning assembly with featured veteran John Calitri, a New Canaan resident, who will talk
about his career and answer questions about his service in the Army. Students will learn about
the merits of service to our community and country, sing patriotic songs, and will be encouraged
to dress in red, white and blue. Featured musician Louise Barranger, Ridgefield resident, teacher,
and professional trumpet player, who currently plays with the brass quintet Revolutionary Brass,
will show how the trumpet is used in music for the military.

Saxe Middle School
Saxe Middle School with present its 12th Annual Veterans Appreciation Day on Monday,
November 11. Invited veterans will speak at various locations in the school throughout the day.
These include New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski, an honorably discharged Marine
Corps infantry combat veteran, who will be discussing his experiences serving our country to
Saxe Middle School 7th graders, from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. in the Saxe Auditorium. Students
will also have the opportunity to make thank you cards and letters in the cafeteria’s “Thank a
Veteran” tent, which will be delivered to the West Haven Veterans Hospital or for the New
Canaan Veterans Homebound Human Services Program.

New Canaan High School
During Veterans Day, November 11, New Canaan High School students in all U.S. History,
American Studies and AP U.S. History classes will, in different ways, be looking at interviews with
local veterans, examining sources and documents related to service or listening to veterans
speak. As a basis for their inquiry, many will view one or more of the interviews conducted over
the past few years in a joint Library of Congress project between the U.S. History program and
NCTV/TV Broadcasting. Those interviews can be viewed on the NCTV Youtube channel. NCHS
Social Studies teacher Mike Forcucci, who served in the National Guard for many years and was
deployed in Afghanistan, will speak to students during period 4 in the American Studies room.
Students in other history classes will also integrate Veterans Day interviews, documents and
topics into their studies where appropriate connections can be made with the curriculum.

This press release was produced by New Canaan Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author's own.