Hickory Creek students raise funds to sponsor trips for veterans

Several World War II veterans will be the guests of honor on a memorable trip to Washington, DC at no cost to them, thanks to the efforts of Hickory Creek Middle School students, families and faculty.

The school’s seventh grade students participated in a special Veterans Day program on November 11. They presented a check in the amount of $7,763 to Honor Flight Chicago that will sponsor a number of veterans for the trip. Honor Flight Chicago is a non-profit organization that was founded to recognize veterans, most specifically World War II veterans, with a day of honor, remembrance and celebration at their memorial in Washington, D.C. It costs Honor Flight Chicago about $600 for each veteran making the trip. This is the ninth year that seventh grade students raised funds for the organization.

The seventh grade class raised the funds through a coin collecting effort, Aurelio’s pizza hot lunch sales and flag sales. Honor Flight Chicago will use the funds to fly several World War II veterans free of charge from Midway Airport in Chicago to Washington, DC to be honored for serving their country. Many World War II veterans are on the waiting list to take the flight. Tracey Rousonelos of Honor Flight Chicago spoke to the students about the organization and accepted their check. More information about Honor Flight Chicago is at www.honorflightchicago.org.

Following a Color Guard presentation by the Boy Scouts of America and the Pledge to the Flag, Hickory Creek Principal, Dr. Kevin Suchinski, welcomed students and veterans to the assembly and spoke about the importance of Veterans Day. He thanked the students for their work in raising funds for Honor Flight Chicago, stating “It is amazing the amount you have raised for this cause over the past couple of years.” Teacher Tricia Dotson asked students to consider the sacrifices that veterans have made on behalf of our country and to think about what it means to be a hero. A patriotic song was performed by the band students under the direction of music instructor David Wonder. Many Lincoln-Way area veterans were in attendance and some of them spoke to the students about their experiences while serving our nation. The students recognized the veterans with bursts of applause after they spoke and presented them with a gift.

The students and veterans also viewed a reenactment of the children’s story “America’s White Table” by Margot Theis Raven. Hickory Creek seventh grade staff members Sue Kazmierczak, Tonia Gatsios, Jane DeHaan and Mitch Stein presented this tribute to fallen service members. Following the assembly, the students continued their studies about Veterans Day in their classrooms to reinforce what they had learned. New this year was a unit on wartime propaganda and the students made up their own “pro-veteran” propaganda items.

Students at all three of the District 157-C schools observed Veterans Day through a number of activities held throughout the school day. In the evening, the Hickory Creek Middle School band also presented its annual Fall Band Concert, with a Veterans Day observation held in cooperation with the Village of Frankfort and Mayor Jim Holland as emcee.

Shown (l-r) Veterans Tom Cerny and Joseph Lepore with Hickory Creek student John Newton.