Veterans Day is a meaningful national holiday on November 11th in which we celebrate the veterans and active military members that have fought for our country. The Cherry Creek School District takes this special day very seriously, with nearly every school in the district hosting a Veterans Day celebration. At Eaglecrest, Positive Impact held a Veterans Day breakfast. Veterans, active duty members, and their families were invited to enjoy a breakfast and ceremony to honor their service. Eaglecrest’s choir also helped to make the event special by performing the national anthem, and National Art Honor Society students decorated the windows with Veterans Day art.

“The Veterans Day breakfast is held to honor all of our veterans and active service members in the community,” said Michelle Kim, Eaglecrest’s Posotice Impact teacher. “It’s a tradition.”

This event is extremely valuable for veterans in the area, as many retired service members consider the breakfast to be a crucial part of their Veterans Day celebrations. It is a great opportunity for them to be recognized and share their stories, all while surrounded by patriotic decorations and delicious food.

“I think the veterans day breakfast is important because it shows the people and the veterans in our community how we appreciate them every year and how we love to see them come back,” said sophomore Xuan-Nguyen Do.

This year, Delectable Egg, Starbucks, Dunkin, Paris Baguette, and Dirty Dough Cookies donated to the breakfast. 

“It was really impressive to see how much free food and donations we got from all the different places,” said Xuan-Nguyen Do.

After checking in, veterans received a bracelet, a pin, and a t-shirt. Eaglecrest staff members who fought in the military were awarded with a special medal to recognize their service. The Eaglecrest Madrigals choir opened the event by performing the national anthem, and then guests were invited to get food. Positive Impact students were able to interact with the service members as they ate.

“I met three people at the breakfast talking about their past experiences, why they decided to join the military, why they stayed for so long, and all their unique journeys,” said Do. 

The breakfast also had several guest speakers, including Faith Vigil, an AVID and AP Government teacher at Eaglecrest, and Celie Hebert and J. Travis Jackson, both veterans in our community.

In Ms. Vigil’s speech, she reminisced about her father, a Vietnam War veteran who passed away last March. She was also a guest speaker at the event last year on behalf of her dad, who was requested to speak but was unable to because of a disease. This year, she was asked to speak again, despite the passing of her father. 

“I decided I would kind of talk about all the different Veterans Day celebrations my dad has gone to in the district,” Vigil said. “My kids would always invite their grandpa to Veterans Day stuff. So I thought I’d share a fun story about my dad at a Veterans Day breakfast that he went to when my kids were in elementary school.”

Even though she no longer has a living veteran in her family, Ms. Vigil is still committed to celebrating her father and his legacy. She was proud to attend the breakfast this year and have the opportunity to give a speech in his honor.

“For me, it was a way to honor [my dad] in his military service, and to be able to communicate that with the greater community, mostly just because I think it’s important to acknowledge how important veterans are in our community,” said Vigil.

Ms. Vigil’s speech was moving and extremely emotional, bringing several audience members to tears. While much of her presentation was lighthearted, full of funny stories of her father’s past, she ended the speech with a powerful reminder of the importance of recognizing and honoring our veterans. Ms. Vigil embodies the fact that the breakfast is more than important for not just the veterans themselves, but for their families too. It offers students and faculty an opportunity to “show off” their heroes and honor the sacrifices they made. 

“It really impacts you as part of a veteran’s family, like how you present yourself, and your patriotism,” said Vigil.

Our school understands the significance of a military member’s service, and our staff does everything in their power to make Veterans Day special. 

“[Veterans] aren’t walking around in their military garb,” saids Ms. Vigil. “They’ve retired from the military, or they’re done serving, and so they go back to being members of the community. But I don’t think the military ever leaves them. So I think it’s important to remind them that they’re still important.”

This year’s breakfast was devoted completely to reminding veterans of their value, not just to Eaglecrest, but to the community and country as a whole. Eaglecrest is proud to hold the Veterans Day breakfast in order to thank veterans for their sacrifices. Active and retired service members, students, and staff alike agreed that this year’s celebration was a huge success, and we look forward to continuing to host it every year.