Skydivers from Buzz Fink’s Sky Dive San Diego descend on Coronado High School from the air. Photo by Kel Casey.
CORONADO On Thursday, November 7, members of Sky Dive San Diego jumped from their airplane high above Coronado, with members of the celebrated parachute team landing on the high school football field. The event was part of the fifth annual “Take A Veteran To School Day.” The Coronado chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars donated funds to help make the parachute jump possible. This was their fourth consecutive year of sponsorship.
Take A Veteran To School Day is a very special program sponsored by the History Channel and hosted by the Coronado Middle School and Time Warner. Middle school teacher Amy Steward organized the event locally. VFW Post 2422 graciously provided funding to cover costs surrounding the aerial jump.
“What an opportunity for us to help such an elegant tribute to our veterans,” said Mike Turner, spokesman for VFW Post 2422. “The VFW is in the business of caring for and celebrating our veterans. What this program does is provide opportunities for vets to meet school children. The whole program spans generations, and creates memories the children will carry the rest of their lives.”
This year the VFW dedicated their sponsorship in memory of John “Jack” Carpenter, a long time VFW post member who recently passed away. “The children met and spoke with veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam and all the recent and current conflicts,” said Turner. “Jack would have liked that.”
A member of Buzz Fink’s Sky Dive San Diego made a perfect landing on the Coronado High School Football Field at a past “Take A Veteran To School Day.” Photo by Kel Casey.
Coronado schoolteacher Amy Steward, the organizer on site for this unique event, said they had 46 guest speakers in 26 classrooms at the middle school. Several moving videos and documentaries about veterans were shared during the broadcast created by her communication students. The entire broadcast will air at a later date on Coronado Time Warner – channel 19. This year the History Channel sent a full film crew.
Take a Veteran to School Day began in 2007 and is a national program developed by the History Channel to link veterans with students across the country. Schools and communities invite veterans to share their stories and receive thanks for their service. While the program is available year around, most schools create events surrounding the celebration of Veterans’ Day.
The skydivers were from Buzz Fink’s Sky Dive San Diego. Fink has children in the Coronado school system and donated the services of his group of skydivers and the airplane. Most of the jumpers are also veterans.
Coronado VFW Post 2422 is located at 557 Orange Avenue. For more information visit www.vfwpost2422.com. This powerful, short video was made from last year’s Veteran’s Day event:
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