‘How we give back’
Lorane Elementary School honors veterans
Jose Lopez retired from the Army last year after serving for 22 years, which included four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On Friday, he was grateful to be able to put his service uniform back on for a worthy event.
He and dozens of other veterans were honored during a Veterans Day celebration at Lorane Elementary School in the Exeter School District, where his son Rey is a fourth-grader.
Rey read the veterans a tribute poem that he wrote, and he and close to 300 fellow students in kindergarten through fourth grade at the school all sang the vets patriotic songs and otherwise thanked them for their service, calling them heroes.
And once the students were done performing from the tight quarters of the cafeteria’s small stage, they were allowed to run into the crowd and give the veterans they invited a big hug.
Lopez, like the many of the veterans who attended, was thankful for the embrace and the gratitude shown by the students.
“This was very, very uplifting,” said Lopez, who was emotional as he spoke about what the school had done. “They gave us tons of support.”
Lorane Principal Karen Hodge had grandfathers who served in World War II and the Korean War, and said she was proud to introduce the idea for the celebration to the district and school, both of which were enthusiastic about putting on a good show.
The school’s recorder club even took part, playing “The Marines Hymn” on their instruments, which music teacher Teresa Jennings
said took hours of practice.
“All of the kids were amazing,” Hodge said.
It was one of a number of Berks County school programs that recognized Veterans Day, including events at Exeter’s Jacksonwald and Owatin Creek elementary schools and its high school.
Lorane janitor Tricia Ettinger invited her dad, LeRoy Reinert, an Army veteran of Vietnam whose brothers served in World War II and Korea, and a
mother who helped build truck bodies for the war effort in the 1940s.
He was impressed with what he saw from the students.
“It brought a tear to my eye to see how much love they have for America, and for freedom,” he said.
“I’m proud of them,” Ettinger said of the students from her school.
Air Force veteran Kathy Haines’ son Jimmy is a fourth-grader at the school, and she said she was humbled
the tribute.
“It was absolutely wonderful,” she said.
Air Force veteran Allyn L. Swavely Jr. was invited by his niece and nephew, kindergarteners Rylan and Addyson Hemstreet, and loved what all the students did for the veterans.
It’s important that young people understand what service to their country means, and the event was a great way to help them connect with veter
ans, he said.
“They even wore red, white and blue,” he said. “And it was so genuine. Everyone of them was into it. You could see how much hard work and preparation was involved.”
Hodge hopes to make the tribute an annual event, saying it clearly benefitted the children and the veterans on hand.
“This is our way of serving the community,” she said. “This is how we give back.”