Our students joined more than 44,000 worldwide volunteers on Saturday, Dec. 17 to help place remembrance wreaths on 245,000 headstones as part of the annual Wreaths Across America ceremony to honor veterans. History teachers, Ms. Diama Fischer and Mrs. Lynn Maltz, chaperoned the trip.

For many years, Ms. Lewis-Cantor traveled to D.C. to lay a wreath at her parents' grave in Arlington National Cemetery. When the Wreaths Across America program began, she saw it as an important opportunity "to introduce some IHA seniors to the scope of the sacrifice each generation makes - from the Civil War to the War on Terror - to the security and freedom of the country they call home."

"To stand in front of a grave, to speak the service man or woman's name, to recognize and thank them for their service and sacrifice," Ms. Lewis-Cantor continued, "it's a powerful life lesson I hope they will always carry with them."

 

Click to see more photos from the trip to Arlington National Cemetery. Photos courtesy of IHA students.