Dale Dopkins likes to think he might have had something to do with the fact Community Unit District 300 is now holding classes on Veterans Day.

The Navy veteran, past commander of the Hampshire American Legion, last year made it a point to write local newspapers and school boards to change their policies.

"Students weren't learning anything about the country's history on their day off," he said. "Maybe those letters caused a stir."

Last summer, District 300 changed its policy, and schools remained open on the holiday.

Wednesday, local veterans, including Dopkins, made a point of visiting as many schools as possible. Dopkins began his morning at Central Unit District 301 schools in Burlington, and then traveled out to Hampshire to visit Hampshire High School and Gary D. Wright Elementary.

Hampshire High held a 10 a.m. Veterans Day assembly honoring more than 30 veterans.

Social studies teacher and assembly organizer Dennis Maher said the event was more than six months in the making.

Attendees included state Rep. Tim Schmitz, of Batavia, and Army Lt. Colonel Michael Fenzel, who grew up in Hampshire.

Congressman Bill Foster, who was not in attendance, sent the school an American flag that once flew over the Capitol.

As the Hampshire High School band played the song of each military branch, veterans were invited to stand for recognition.

After the ceremony, veterans were treated to lunch at the school, and many later stopped by classrooms to share their stories.

Woody Woods, of Algonquin, a Navy veteran, spoke to students about his family history, as well as his beliefs in the need for the country to maintain an army.

"It's all right," junior Geza Kogler said of the day at school. "If we were home, we wouldn't be thinking about the veterans here."