Lincoln Elementary in Bemidji Hosts Annual Veterans Day Program to Celebrate Military Veterans

On November 11^th, we celebrate and honor military veterans who have made many sacrifices to serve our country. Students, faculty and staff at Lincoln Elementary School in Bemidji honored many veterans at their annual Veterans Day program.

“We’ve been honoring the veterans many years at Lincoln Elementary and we like to honor them and do presentations to make sure they know that we appreciate the work that they did to make sure that we all have freedom in our nation,” said Jason Luksik, Lincoln Elementary Principal.

The program included a guest speaker who talked about his experience and a patriotic medley sung by the students. The students were also able to gift their respected veterans with a hug, flower and a special note to thank them for their service.

“We just want to make sure that we respect the veterans that left to go away from their families and their homes and perform a service that many of us wouldn’t do unless we had to, so we want to make sure that we honor and them and give them some appreciation for the freedoms that they’ve got for us,” added Luksik.

Parent Carrie Johnson, who was deployed out of Leech Field, Minnesota, served eight years as a Medic in the Army National Guard.

“This is my fourth year doing it, Lincoln has put on a fantastic program every time I’ve attended. Very welcoming, very fun, and I was just awarded the Quilt of Valor this year,” said Johnson.

Quilts of Valor is a Minnesota foundation that gifts service members and veterans wounded physically or psychologically with a comforting and healing quilt that will cover them in love.

“I’m the first vet really in my family, and it’s really good that my kids get to see more and experience more of it and it kind of shows them that, ‘oh, it’s really a big deal to be a veteran and to serve your county and do an important thing like that,'” said Johnson.

“I hope that the veterans can see that we really appreciate and do honor what they’ve done and what they’ve gone through and some of the hardships that they’ve had to do to make sure that all the rest of us can have the freedoms we have,” said Luksik.