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PHOTO BY CLARE JENSEN

HOME OF THE BRAVE. Fourth grade students sing “Proud of Our Veterans” at the Holy Rosary School’s annual Veterans’ Day program Nov. 7. The event has become a tradition for many local veterans who attend each year.

Veterans program tradition for school, audience

By Clare Jensen

For the past 15 years Mark Mascho has climbed the three stories to the Holy Rosary School’s auditorium.

Donna Botello has done it more times than she can count. John Spehar lost track too, but knows he’ll do it again next year.

Mascho, Botello and Spehar, along with dozens of other veterans, have made it a tradition to attend the Veterans’ Day program at Holy Rosary School. Some of them attended the school when they were younger, but most didn’t. They were invited by a fellow veteran, or received a hand-made invitation from a student at Holy Rosary once in years past and have been coming ever since.

Spehar, who is now in his mid-80s, said he really can’t describe what it is about the Holy Rosary assembly that keeps him coming back every year.

“I don’t know how to express it…it’s a remarkable program, it’s unusual,” he said after the assembly Nov. 7. “I’m old, but I have tears in my eyes.”

Students in every grade from pre-kindergarten to grade five present a song to the audience, which includes veterans as well as their parents and family members.

Former Holy Rosary teacher and volunteer event organizer Debbie Schmitt said each class chooses a song that they feel honors veterans. Selections range from “Proud of our Veterans” to “There are Many Flags.”

“I’ve been coming here 15 years and it’s never the same,” said Mascho, program manager for the Pierce County Veterans’ Bureau. “I do it because I like to support the veterans, and I like to support the kids.”

The performances follow a weeklong veterans curriculum where students learn what it means to be a veteran and why Veterans’ Day is so significant.

“Students really get an understanding of what it is and why it’s important,” Schmitt said.

And during a time of war, Veterans’ Day can hit much closer to home for students with parents or other family members who are currently deployed or who have just returned from spending time overseas.

“We have a lot of military families here,” Schmitt said. “It’s comforting for them. They know they have a support group here.”

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