Apr 15, 2003 By Patty Shultz 4 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – Connellsville Area School District students may be too young to serve on a foreign battlefield, but they have found a way to express their gratitude to those who are wearing a uniform and serving their country. On Wednesday, which has been designated by the school board as Red, White and Blue Day, the senior high school will sponsor a program to honor those that are protecting their future.

“The program will recognize veterans of the past, present and future,” said Linda Shearer, senior high English and public speaking teacher.

Photographs of the active military personnel will be featured in a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, along with recognition of members of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard unit based in Connellsville who served a six-month tour of duty in Germany and Italy.

Local vocalist Ronald Schroyer, along with the high school band and chorus, will present musical selections.

The program and other patriotic initiatives developed following a classroom conversation.

“It has been amazing what they have been able to accomplish,” said Shearer.

Neither she nor the students were sure when the coalition troops would move from their Kuwaiti bases into Iraq during a mid-March discussion, but they knew many of those throughout the building were being affected with the deployment of family members and friends.

“I challenged them to do something positive that would make a difference,” Shearer said.

With letters authorized by building principal Robert McLuckey, students began seeking contributions from businesses and financial donations from family members and friends and within days her classroom turned into a warehouse filled with toiletry and food items that the overseas soldiers were lacking in the desert.

The response from the students and the community was overwhelming, said Shearer.

The effort has allowed 400 care packages to be assembled and readied for distribution thousands of miles away to men and women far from home.

The school hallways have also been transformed into a tribute to the local service members. On a bulkhead in the main hallway, nearly 100 names of relatives of students and faculty members serving as members of the American-led coalition force have been etched beneath the appropriate branch of service emblem.

Students and faculty at Junior High East have undertaken a similar effort.

Within the main hallway of the school, computer literacy teacher Don Grenaldo has utilized his artistic talents for a military display of photographs, symbols and patriotic quotations to honor the soldiers now serving in the Persian Gulf region and Afghanistan related to those who attend or work at the junior high school.

“The students see a lot of this on television and I thought it would be a good idea to put a personal face to all of it,” said Grenaldo. “I wanted to help our age group to understand that we have people from here that are overseas. I wanted to embed them with those that are there on the front lines.”

Teacher James Jozefick has a personal interest in the display as one of the featured photographs is of his wife and Junior High East teacher Crystal, who was mobilized two months ago by her Army Reserve unit. Since, she has been stationed in Missouri where she is serving as an instructor, preparing others for the rebuilding of Iraq.

“She may have to go to Kuwait, we’re just not sure yet,” said James Jozefick.

While she is away, he has become both father and mother to their four children, who range in age from 10 to 19.

“It’s hard. I didn’t realize everything she did for us until she was gone,” he said. “It has given me a greater appreciation of her and what she did everyday.”

While she is missed at home, her absence is also felt in the classroom.

“She’s one of my favorite teachers,” said C.J. Spackman as he stopped to look at the recent additions to the hallway display. “I’ve written her a couple of letters.”

The war has also affected the Maharowski family.

“I worry, but I’m very proud of him,” said Cheryl Maharowski of her son, Jeff, who is now serving with the Navy aboard the USS Stout, a guided missile destroyer.

His photograph, too, is highlighted on the hallway display.

Although still stateside, she anticipates the crew will become part of the Persian Gulf region rotation in the near future.

Cheryl Maharowski, who is a special education clerk at the junior high school, said that the patriotic tributes and the continued expressions of concern by the students and staff have made her son’s deployment easier to bear.

“There are a lot of moms with sons and daughters over there,” she said. “I’m very lucky to have so much support here at home.”