Dear North Colonie families,
Veterans Day is a time to come together and recognize those who made the ultimate sacrifice to fight for our country. Each November 11, we take the time to honor all our veterans, past, present, and future. Our annual event celebrating Veterans Day is one of my favorites each year. I enjoy seeing our school community come together to commemorate the day and acknowledge the commitment these individuals have made to serving the greater good. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic this year, we were unable to hold our annual event.
Instead, please take a few minutes to watch this short tribute video from our high school’s World of Difference Club, as they held a brief wreath laying ceremony to honor our veterans.
Our veterans are inextricably bound to the fabric of our community. They are our husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, sisters, brothers, friends, and neighbors. They are the embodiment of the notion that service is integral to the fabric of our community and, indeed, our country. While it is important that we honor veterans each November 11, our demonstrations of honor and gratitude for their service must be constant. We cannot forget them.
We must actively and intentionally keep in the minds of our children the history and the stories of our veterans’ unique service. We must teach them how our veterans answered the call of duty, disrupted their lives, left their families and friends, suffered physical, social, and emotional wounds, witnessed the unimaginable, and, in some cases, made the supreme sacrifice. We must teach them that gratitude involves more than words, and while we will always express our thanks, we must show them that true gratitude involves taking action, and not just once a year. Our gratitude must be constant, ongoing, and active.
Such gratitude is evident when we work on their behalf. It is evident when we ensure that they are never left to feel isolated, alone, taken for granted, or forgotten. It is evident when we advocate for their social, emotional, and physical well-being. Ultimately, it is evident when we do more than express thanks for our veterans’ service, but when, as citizens inspired by the service of our veterans, serve them with actions throughout the year on their behalf.
This day in November stands not only as a permanent reminder of the service of our veterans, past, present, and future, but as a challenge for us to live up to their example and commit ourselves to service to family, friends, community, state, and nation, for we are all connected to a larger community and an entity greater than ourselves.
Veterans, we are forever grateful to you, and we promise to continually honor you in our thoughts, words, and deeds. We extend to you our deepest gratitude. Thank you for your service to our great country.
Sincerely,
D. Joseph Corr
Superintendent of Schools