10th Annual Veterans Day Ceremony at Cimarron Middle School
Students are Hands-On in Producing the Annual Event
P
ARKER — A crisp Friday morning in November marked something remarkable: Cimarron Middle School held its 10th Annual Veterans Day Ceremony. As service members and their families arrived, students greeted them at the doors and gave each person a small American flag. Although some things have changed at the school since 2009, one thing hasn’t — students drive the Veterans Day Ceremony from organization to decoration to coverage.
A recent addition to students’ involvement in the ceremony is the livestream video filmed and produced by Scott Melanson’s Electronic Media class since 2017.
“People from all over the country catch our livestreams, which is really amazing,” says Melanson. “So many people watched last year that we went over our usage limit — it was a ton!”
To capture the ceremony, the broadcasting crew used two cameras mounted on tripods on the upper level with two mobile cameras on monopods moving along the main floor, all feeding into a mixer run by eighth-grader Colin Flaherty.
“I had to make sure everything goes smoothly,” says Flaherty, who was running the mixer for the first time. “It’s gratifying to know that I can look at the livestream online and I can say ‘I did that. Those are the shots I wanted.’”
Emma Poole, an eighth-grader operating one of the monopod cameras enjoyed capturing different types of shots, especially how veterans and their families felt during the ceremony. Poole feels honored to be part of the celebration.
“People put their lives on the line and they go away from their families for so long,” says Poole. “Nobody my age or somebody who hasn’t served can understand, so we need to honor veterans and give them a big thanks.”
As part of the Palomino team, Poole helped ready the school for their visitors by decorating the walls and staircases while other students made sure the slideshow was perfect and the historian speakers were prepared.
“Seeing the smiles on people’s faces and being able to thank them is very rewarding for us,” Poole says.
One former Air Force veteran, Eugene Whitehouse, is especially appreciative.
“I’ve always enjoyed what the kids put together, especially the American flags around the hallways. They’re very inspirational, they really are,” says Whitehouse says. “It shows the kids have an idea of what is happening in the world — that war is real and that coming back is real.”
Whitehouse has seen nine grandchildren go through Cimarron Middle School and graduate from Legend High School. Although he no longer has students there, he has attended nine out of ten ceremonies.
“I still enjoy coming and watching everything,” Whitehouse says. “The kids do a wonderful job.
Melanson’s Electronic Publishing class was also on the floor capturing emotional images for the Cimarron Middle School yearbook. Seventh-grader Grady Gonzales said it was his first time photographing an event and the images of veterans weeping during the ceremony stuck out in his mind.
“It’s important to show that kind of thing because sometimes veterans don’t get enough respect,” says Gonzales. “The images show that we can do little things to make the world a better place.”
View the ceremony through the eyes of a few yearbook photographers in the slideshow below.
Check out how other DCSD schools recognized Veterans Day on our Facebook photo album >>