BCHS Receives Brown Foundation Grant

Picture:  Lisa Adams (social studies teacher), Treciah Adams, Clint Williams, Justin Usey, Charlie Newberry, Marty Spear (curriculum specialist)

Belle Chasse High School recently received a $3,125 grant from the Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation for a service learning project entitled “Our Heroes – Our Veterans.”  This is the third year that the school has received the grant for their veterans program.  The school conducts an interactive Veterans Day program and works with veterans in the community throughout the year.  In October, the students begin to prepare for the November 17 program by writing letters and/or poems to thank their local veterans for risking their lives for our country.  The students compile their compositions and publish a book to be given to each veteran on the day of the program.  Then, the students make a PowerPoint presentation with their letters.  This is shown on the day of the program.  The students also prepare exhibits and help with the preparation and serving of food for the program.  On the day of the program, over 50 veterans come to Belle Chasse High School.  After a patriotic assembly with a guest speaker and military bands, the veterans go into the classrooms to speak to small groups of students.  Each homeroom attends three specific sessions with the veterans.  These men and women are veterans of wars from World War II to the present.  They bring memorabilia of the various wars for the students to see.  One session which is a big hit is swing dancing with former USO women from WWII.  The students interact with the veterans in a huge luncheon, where they take pictures with them and listen to their stories.  Students also participate in fund-raisers to contribute money to the Medal of Honor Park in Belle Chasse.  The final portion of this service-learning project is participation in the Library of Congress Veteran’s History Project, which collects video interviews of  U.S. veterans.  BCHS students make DVD interviews of the veterans and send them to the Library of Congress in Washington.  The money from the Brown Foundation grant pays for the booklets, the pictures, the DVDs and some of the supplies for the luncheon.