Melanie+L

Seton Supports Troops

Seton High School, in Price Hill, Cincinnati, is all about educating the young women who attend the all girls’ Catholic school. With inspiration from an all-school reading, the Seton English department, along with many other helpful staff members, put together a series of knowledgeable speakers and informative presentations that would enlighten the students and increase their awareness and understanding of what is happening overseas. Throughout the months between October and May, the young women were able to interact and obtain quality information about the War in Iraq. Seton students and staff took advantage of such a wonderful opportunity to support our troops by giving time, money, energy, and goods to the drive. The inspiration for this big campaign was a required reading titled __From Baghdad, With Love__ by Jay Kopelman with Melinda Roth. The wonderful novel described Kopelman’s struggle to evacuate a harmless Iraqi dog from the unsafe streets of Baghdad. The fun, easy read provided a nice balance of geographical references, military rules, war scene descriptions, and a story on how a very beloved dog was protected from the harm of a war zone. “The book was a good focus for those who read it because it made us aware of the number of people and sacrifices that have been made,” commented Jan, a staff member at Seton. The education did not stop once the book was complete, but continued through many educational presentations, speakers, and projects. The first project on the to-do list was to gather names of family connections of those who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces. Anna, the head of the English department, gathered over seven hundred names to be placed on four different banners. The banners were hung throughout the main hallway of the school from November until the end of April in appreciation of those men and women whose names proudly fill the banners. "The banners really amazed me. I never would have guessed that there would be that many connections!” says Dana, a junior at Seton. The banners were first displayed on November 12, when Seton held a prayer service to honor our troops. “I thought that it was a really nice way to honor our troops and it was cool to have [|family] involved,” commented Stephanie, a junior at Seton. Stephanie’s brother-in-law, Kevin, attended the prayer service because he is a current member of the military. The service was held just one day after Veterans Day, and the service featured some veterans and current members of our military along with some staff members of Seton who have served. Another way to show support for our troops was to send out some homemade holiday [|cards]. Thanks to Seton’s art department, six hundred cards were beautifully created for our injured troops. Before sending them out, the students and staff wrote personalized messages that offered support and hope. The cards were mailed to Landstuhl Hospital in Germany, the Wounded Warriors Division of the Veterans Hospital in Kentucky, and Fisher Hospital in Kentucky. Seton’s giving did not end there. A huge [|collection drive] was underway from January 28 through February 1. The generous students and staff brought in items such as caned goods, toiletries, books, games, phone cards, notebooks, shampoo, band aids and socks. A road block occurred when there were no funds to ship the items to our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. However the Seton community once again enthusiastically stepped up to donate enough money to cover the shipping costs.

After so many items were shipped out, Seton took in 3,000 white  [|crosses]    to be displayed on the front lawn. Each cross (18 inches tall) symbolized one man or woman who had lost his or her life due to the conflicts overseas. A boy named Robby Herbolt, of Union Township, wanted to recognize these very special people and so he came up with this moving cross display. The crosses were made by the Cub Scout Pack 452 in Union Township in 2004 after Robby proposed this Veterans Day project to his pack. Mrs. Herbolt, Robby’s mother, was gracious enough to allow the crosses to move from their original home in Veterans Memorial Park to the front lawn of Seton High School. On March 18, Mrs. Herbolt kindly took the time to come to Seton and speak about the [|history] of the crosses and of how one boy made, and continues to make, a huge difference to many veterans and citizens. Immediately after Mrs. Herbolt was finished talking, Seton held another prayer service to transport the crosses onto the front lawn, where they would reside for about three weeks. However, due to inclement weather, Seton had to alter their plans. Instead of walking outside, two students assembled a cross (put a flag into an opening of the cross) and walked up onto the auditorium stage to place the cross at the foot of a larger cross. As the piles of crosses grew larger and larger, many students and staff were amazed by the touching scene. “Just knowing that each cross stood for one life of a dedicated soldier and then seeing the piles grow was very heartbreaking,” commented Chelsea, a sophomore at Seton. Ms. Gibbons, the principle of Seton High School, commented on how “very powerful” and “moving” the prayer service was. After the cross display took over the front lawn, four different military vehicles were also brought into the parking lot of Seton. On March 26 four women from Fort Wright Air Force Base arrived on Seton’s campus with a humvee, [|a seven ton truck], and a jet. "Actually being able to get in the vehicles made me feel like I was a part of the war," said freshman Liz. They spoke to the girls about females serving in the armed forces and what life is like overseas. They also brought equipment to try on and Meals Ready to Eat for the students to try. Meals Ready to Eat, or MRE’s, are packaged meals that soldiers can easily grab without any preparation. Being an all girls school, the student body could more easily relate to the stories and information that the women shared. Another woman that helped the school’s understanding of the book was Shakila T. Ahmad. She volunteers with the Islamic Center in West Chester and works to educate more people about Muslims and their Islamic culture. She spoke about the hardships Muslim women face with the prejudice and stereotypes placed on them. During the presentation she put on a hijab, a head garment that some Muslim women choose to wear, and many people were amazed that she had instantly changed from an average person to someone that would draw many stares. She was making a point that most people have a typical stereotype implanted in us about Muslims who wear the hijab, and she encouraged everyone to break down that barrier. Ms. Ahmad commented that some people “forget that we are all living in the same world.” The newly enlightened Seton girls kept on giving by visiting a retirement home for war veterans on Wednesday, March 3. About fifteen students from Publications and Service Learning class, along with Anna and Jan, the two teachers of the classes, traveled to the Veterans of America Nursing Home in Ft. Thomas, where they would spend a few hours with veterans from the Vietnam War and World War II. They played cards with the residents and ate ice cream while hearing stories about the wars. [|The vets] really enjoyed the company of the students and being able to share their experiences. Another man was also gracious enough to share some of his experiences as well as his time by coming to Seton to speak to the students. Mr. Andrew Lohmiller was one of the most well liked speakers at Seton and he was a cousin of Seton sophomore, Sam. Mr. Lohmiller has been to Afghanistan to serve in the War in Iraq and he told the student body how appreciative the soldiers are of all of the support they receive from the citizens back home. He shared his personal experiences and photos from overseas to give the students an idea of what is happening in Iraq. The students and staff were able to ask him questions to help get a better understanding of what goes on during a war. Jan enjoyed Mr. Lohmiller’s [|presentation] in the library and commented that “the more we understand, the more we are educated.” To wrap up this very inspirational all-school reading event Seton hosted an [|an all community mass] on Monday, April 15 to celebrate what our troops have done for us. Family members, students and veterans joined together to honor those who keep us safe and risk their lives everyday. During the mass a [|video] was shown to recap on the many events that lead up to this mass. The video was crated by Mr. Wurzelbacher t, a teacher at Seton, and it was a unique way to show how much Seton had accomplished when everyone came together for a great cause. As another way to recap on the events, a survey was taken by 100 Seton students. Surveyors were asked three questions and were instructed to answer those questions with answers ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. The  [|first survey question] revealed that 36 percent of the surveyed students strongly agreed that they liked this years reading event, and the [|second survey question] showed that 56 percent of those surveyed said that they really enjoyed all of the speakers and presentations. Along with being a touching story, the [|third survey question]   revealed that over half of those surveyed said how the book made them more aware of what is going on in the Middle East. Most students commented on how they liked the vehicles that came to the campus because they enjoyed the hands on activity. It allowed them to feel like they were actually a part of the war. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> Overall Seton’s efforts were a huge success. The students and staff learned more about the emotional and physical demands that are involved with being a soldier. They were also educated about different religions, cultures and types of people. This experience has allowed the young women to become more knowledgeable about an issue that will very much affect all of them in the future.

Works Cited Ahmad, Shakila T. Personal interview. 1 May 2008. Davis, Stephanie. Personal interview. 7 May 2008. Forgrave, Reid. "Scouts Build, Plant Crosses for U.S. Soldiers Who Died." __Cincinnati Enquirer__ 6 Nov. 2004. __Cincinnati.com__. 2007. May 2008 <[|http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/11/06/loc_cubscouts06.html>.</span]> Gibbons, Susan. Personal interview. 1 May 2008. Hurley, Liz. Personal interview. 7 May 2008. Langenbrunner, Dana. Personal interview. 2 May 2008. Linz, Jan. Personal interview. 1 May 2008. Lipps, Chelsea. Personal interview. 5 May 2008. Wurzelbacher, Don. __From Baghdad, With Love__. 2008. DVD. 2008. Pictures were compliments of the Seton Publication Staff.