About 140 Central Junior High School staff members and students honored fallen service members today through Memorial Day events and activities.
Participants started the day with the national anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, a brief Memorial Day explanation and a one-minute moment of silence.
Staff and students then gathered around the flagpole in front of the school to raise the national colors with the support of an honor guard comprised of Veterans of Foreign War members.
The flag raising was followed by an address by veteran Michael Schutz, U.S. Navy chaplain, in the school's cafeteria. Schutz encouraged students to live lives worthy of the sacrifices of those who died to ensure their freedom.
Participants finished the day with a tour of Fayetteville National Cemetery led by Anton McBride, cemetery director. McBride shared the histories of national cemeteries and Northwest Arkansas' military.
Tour participants then broke down into groups of 20 to search for headstones identified through a scanned QR code. One of the headstones belonged to principal Dr. Todd Loftin's uncle, Etsel Glenn Loftin, a U.S. Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War.
Additional Memorial Day- themed activities included students placing flags around Central Junior High School, a student mural and Memorial Day lessons.
Schutz is a native of Victoria, Texas, who served in as a Marine from 1973-1975. Following his separation from the military, he attended Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas, from 1975-1977. He graduated from the University of Texas at Tyler in 1979. He holds a Masters of Theology from Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and a Masters of Theological Studies in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.
