Photo By Master Sgt. R Denise Mommens | Lt. Col. Bryan Scholtes, 155th Air Refueling Wing KC-135R Stratotanker pilot, shows a...... read more read more
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Military members, veterans honored at school Luncheon
LINCOLN, Neb. (March 19, 2020)—Cathedral of the Risen Christ Catholic Church hosted a luncheon to honor returning deployed members from the Nebraska Air National Guard and local veterans in Lincoln, Feb. 11, 2020.
Erin Halligan Trummer, Cathedral of the Risen Christ Catholic School director of development, initiated the luncheon to foster a connection between students, military veterans and service servicemembers to give students time to learn more about what they do.
“We’ve done small things, like sending pictures saying we love our veterans on veteran’s day,” said Trummer. “Then when they came back, we wanted to do something where our students could get in touch with that group.”
Deployed Nebraska ANG members received these colored pictures from classes who adopted a member as a pen pal, and the entire school sent larger care packages of games, rosaries and food.
Trummer said she likes to create opportunities to connect students with their community, and she said a luncheon to honor military was one way to do that.
“We opened it [luncheon] up not just to the unit and those pen pals, but to all the military and all our veterans,” Trummer said. “It’s a great combination because our students get to see the best of both generations and how things are different from when they were active versus now being retired.”
Three of the pen pals, Lt. Col. Bryan Scholtes, KC-135 Stratotanker pilot, Master Sgt. Maureen Dreith, Mission Support Group Knowledge Specialist, and Tech. Sgt. Steven Bolli, Communication Technician, attended the luncheon and spent some time talking to students about what they do in the guard.
Trummer said she saw how fun the connections could be when her mom adopted one pen pal.
“What a great idea to show our support for troops,” said Trummer. “Once we got to know these people, they ended up corresponding back and forth, even sending Christmas cards back and forth. It became fun. It became neat to cheer these people up.”
Trummer said she experienced a special connection herself with an historical hero and she wanted to encourage students to have those valuable connections through similar community engagements.
“I had the honor of sitting next to a member of the Tuskegee Airmen group,” said Trummer. “I could have sat there for hours and just listened, because I didn’t fully understand. To hear it from someone who went through it, to hear their love of their country, and to hear their stories is something that is going to be lost on my children. That generation can only exist through me passing it down.”
Trummer mentioned she has a few other ideas to bring the military members and students together.
Trummer explained she created a reading challenge where the students competed against the Lincoln Police Department earlier this year. Drummer also noted it was a fun competition and she would love to have a similar partnership with the Nebraska National Guard.
“I would love to keep this partnership going between Cathedral school and our military, “ said Trummer. “I think it’s necessary for those individuals to know our kids do appreciate, and our kids are wanting to understand exactly what it is that you do. You never know when you are going to inspire kids.”
| Date Taken: | 02.11.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2020 17:38 |
| Story ID: | 373898 |
| Location: | LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 65 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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