Make Veterans Day a learning experience
An open letter to, Mayor Caroline Simmons, Schools Superintendent Tamu Lucero and the Stamford Board of Education.
Columbus Day is special to Stamford citizens of Italian descent.
Juneteenth is a special day to Stamford’s citizens of African-American descent
Eid al-Fitr is a day of importance to Stamford’s Muslim citizens
Each day is special to those Stamford citizens who have a specific ethnic and/or religious background.
Stamford’s Veterans are comprised of individuals, from all religious and ethnic backgrounds. Yet they all share one thing in common. Each one was willing to sacrifice their life so that all of Stamford’s citizens could exercise their right to celebrate their religious belief and ethnic background.
Yet Stamford’s mayor, schools superintendent and Board of Education members seem willing to say let’s forget about those who served their country and stood to defend the freedoms we enjoy. Even the freedom to have this debate about which holidays our schools should be closed. Without veterans who knows what holidays we would be observing or prevented from observing.
Veterans Day is a legal holiday in the United States. You won’t get your mail on Veterans Day.
Since 1995, state law has allowed public schools to open on Veterans Day, provided they offer programs about veterans. Of the 172 school districts in Connecticut, as best we can determine, only 75 districts have made the choice to remain open on Veterans Day.
Doing so requires that they establish programs that teach students about the significance of Veterans Day, why veterans are important and why we should honor those who stood to defend their country and ensure our right to live free.
While you are considering keeping Stamford’s schools open on Veterans Day, there is no mention of how you will fulfill the state mandate to provide the programs about veterans; not to just a small group of students but to the entire student population. Stamford’s veterans have not demonstrated in public venues, nor have we been disruptive by marching through meetings; we marched enough while in uniform. Neither have we gone to the media to ask them to publicize this debate. Instead, we view this as an opportunity to turn Veterans Day from “I have another day off from school” into a true learning experience.
Should the decision be made to have the schools open on Veterans Day we would expect that the state mandate be met by
The development of a formal program, that will added to the curriculum and be taught on Veterans Day, that teaches students the meaning of Veterans Day, what it means to be a veteran and why this country owes a debt of gratitude to veterans and why they should be recognized and honored.
The program will include different topics and subjects appropriate for each grade level
The program will be required to be taught on Veterans Day (or the recognized holiday if Veterans Day falls on a weekend)
The program for each grade level will be at least one hour long
The program, where possible, will include the participation of veterans
Should the decision be made to remain open we look forward to working with the board in establishing this program.
We will shortly be reaching out to you so that we can schedule a meeting to discuss the issue. Who are “we.”
We are The Stamford Veterans Council, representing the commanders and members of Stamford’s veteran service organization; The American Legion, The Veterans of Foreign Wars, The Marine Corps League, The Catholic War Veterans, The Jewish War Veterans and The Disabled American Veterans.