JACKSON – The holiday season may be a bit easier for men and women in the military who are serving overseas and at home, with support from the students and staff of the Christa McAuliffe Middle School.
As part of this year’s 20th annual Run For Vets event, pupils raised $3,500 and they collected donations for Operation Shoebox, a nonprofit organization that delivers care packages to military members serving overseas.
“The Run for Vets is a very special event we have proudly held for 20 years,” said Jackie Volpe, who along with fellow teacher Jenn Nickerson organized the event this year. “A special thank you goes out to all who helped in any way, and especially to our active military members and our veterans.”
The Run for Vets starts with a breakfast that honors guest veterans and active military members, each of whom is accompanied by a student. During the breakfast, each student presents a statement which describes why their honored veteran is special.
Afterward, the veterans volunteer to share their experiences and stories with the pupils by visiting classrooms. The run is held at the end of the school day and has categories for racing, walking and relay teams.
“We had music, face painting by our honor society students, the mascot, a bake sale, RC car racing for the veterans, and friends, family members and staff members all having a great time out to honor veterans and active military members,” Nickerson said. “It was a wonderful event and we are so proud of our students for all their efforts to recognize and honor our veterans.”
Leading up to the event, the school held “Grade Wars” to get pupils involved. During gym class, pupils were put through a team obstacle course, they had grade level “color wars” and the culminating event is Operation Shoebox, where pupils in each grade collect supplies to send to American troops serving overseas.
