Sylvan Avenue School Honors Nation's Veterans

From BBP Schools: Staff and students from Sylvan Avenue Elementary School in the Bayport- Blue Point School district recently gathered in the school’s cafeteria to celebrate and honor the nation’s veterans in their annual Veterans Recognition Day assembly.

To begin the morning’s celebrations, Sylvan Avenue Elementary School Principal Alane Dugan addressed the crowd and thanked everyone for attending this special assembly before asking everyone to turn and face the flag for the Pledge of Allegiance. Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2913 were in attendance, and commander Dave Rogers engaged the students in a question and answer session surrounding the topic of servicemen and women. Long Island Office of Veteran Affairs Representative Karen Saffari spoke to students about her firsthand account as serving as a medic in the U.S. Army from 1997-2000. Mrs. Saffari invited students up to the stage to try on her military-grade rucksack, and demonstrated the usage of the entrenching tool she brought along to show the students.

To the crowd’s surprise, America’s VetDogs beneficiary Hugh Riley surprised the students by bringing along the service-dog “Hoola,” who is trained to assist veterans with everyday tasks such as closing the refrigerator door and warning their owner about an oncoming medical issue. Along with contributions from the Teacher’s Union, staff and students of Sylvan Avenue Elementary School raised $250 which will be donated to America’s VetDogs. Additionally, the students were able to raise approximately $550 which will directly benefit the Honor Flight Network. The district would like to thank Sylvan Avenue Elementary School speech and language pathologists Laurie Katz and Christine Monahan for organizing this wonderful assembly.

Photo courtesy of the Bayport-Blue Point School District