But Bluff Ridge Elementary Principal Megan Fairbourn quickly made it clear Wednesday that the school’s program for Veterans Day — attended by students and their parents who have served or are serving in the military — was a little different this year.

“Parents, I’m sorry to tell you that this day is not really about you,” she said at the beginning of the program. “This is about your students — all of the students whose parents have served, or are currently serving, and are in the United States military.”

She told the Standard-Examiner that Wednesday morning’s program wasn’t just to give those students a passing acknowledgement, but rather dedicate a part of the school to them.

“We want to make sure that the students whose parents are in the military or who have been in the military feel welcome at Bluff Ridge Elementary,” she said. “And so we decided to dedicate an entire hall to them where we can have their picture put up next to where their parent has served — what branch of the military they’ve served — and then also a big mural that honors their service because they have to sacrifice and give service to have their parents be in the military. So if we get a new student who is just moving here and they’re in the military, we’ll take them down the hallway and show them where their picture will go and hopefully they’ll feel welcome.”

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

She said the goal is to highlight what these students have to face, year in and year out, going forward.

“We want to make sure that we start to highlight them every year because the kids have to give up a lot for their parents to serve in the military,” she said. “And so we want to make sure that they know we recognize that and we see them in their scene.”

Wednesday morning’s ceremony included several speakers, including Bluff Ridge Elementary Assistant Principal Jessica Pearce, who interviewed several students whose parents had served or were currently serving and their experience.

“As I heard all these interviews and was able to talk to all these kiddos, a few themes came through,” she said. “One of them was they felt proud. Another one was they feel special. And another one was that it can be hard. It can be hard sometimes.”

U.S. Navy veteran Nariman Main also spoke Wednesday morning.

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

“As a mother, nothing goes to my heart with greater pride than watching my daughter standing with her hand over her heart during our National Anthem of the United States,” she said. “As a daughter of two veterans, I hope you will have an understanding that the American flag represents more than a nation. It represents generations of men and women who have served, sacrificed and defended the freedoms we enjoy today. And when I see you are showing your respect, I’m reminded that patriotism isn’t something simply declared. It isn’t simply something we say. It’s something we demonstrate through our actions, our character and how we speak for one another.”

Air Force Master Sgt. Alvin Taisague recalled the impact his wife’s deployment had on their children shortly after the family had relocated to Utah from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.

“We moved here to Utah — new school, new beginnings, new routines — and not a couple of weeks into taking our new positions within our organization, it’s my wife that’s tapped to deploy,” he said. “So insert new environment, new location — now first Christmas, Thanksgiving and holiday season here in Utah is going to be spent without mom here. So what was pride and honor in the uniform that they saw us get on for years soon turned into sadness, sadness turned into anger, and anger turned into resentment. And it went from, ‘I’m proud of my dad and my mom for serving in the military,’ to ‘Why do you still do it?’ And that was tough to hear. That was very, very tough to hear.”

He said after seeking out resources on base, Bluff Ridge Elementary and the Davis School District offered the children 10 counseling sessions.

“They learned to accept the fact that the levels of connectedness may not always be the same every time we move,” he said. “They’ve moved to five different states in their short lives. But thank you to the Davis School District and to the faculty staff here at Bluff Ridge Elementary for showing our children that their sacrifices do not go unrecognized.”

In addition to a performance by the school’s choir, Wednesday’s ceremony also included a symbolic ribbon cutting to celebrate the hallway.

Fairbourn said she’s happy with how the hallway displays have turned out.

“I think it turned out wonderful,” she said. “We had lots of parents come. All the kids got to come and participate and really feel like something was all about them.”