Lake Park community event honors veterans

With student presentations on World War II and first-person discussions of military service, Lake Park High School will honor veterans with a community event Tuesday, Nov. 10, that will become the basis for classroom discussions on Veterans Day.

Community members can tour student-designed displays focusing on World War II beginning at 6:30 p.m. until the formal presentation begins at 7 p.m. in the East Campus Cafeteria, 600 S. Medinah Road, Roselle.

The evening will feature three main speakers, with students giving dramatic readings including diary entries, letters and more between each of the presentations.

Lake Park school board member Claire Adachi will provide a historical perspective of the role USO volunteers have played since World War II. She also will share how today's USO is making a difference in the lives of our nation's men and women in uniform and their families.

Lake Park teacher Seth Hible, a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard, will highlight his experiences over the past 30 years as a citizen-soldier who, at times, has had to leave his family and his teaching career due to various deployments with the National Guard.

The final speaker, retired U.S. Army Col. Jill Morgenthaler, brings a rare perspective as one of the Army's first female recruits. Morgenthaler arrived at boot camp in 1975 as part of the inaugural class of women in the Army, and was one of only 83 female cadets on a base of 50,000 men.

As author of "The Courage to Take Command: Leadership Lessons from a Military Trailblazer," she will share experiences from her military career as well as a common-sense approach to leadership.

Lake Park social studies teacher Jeanne Hamacher and student volunteers have organized this second annual event designed to lead into additional activities and discussion planned to commemorate Veterans Day during school Wednesday, Nov. 11.