Good Morning Asbury Park High School: Veterans Day and The League of Women Voters

Wolverine, Superman, Batman, and Iron Man please move over for the real heroes who had served our country to the fullest: our veterans.

Veterans Day Asbury Park Celebration

Just recently, Mr. David Wronko invited the Veterans of Foreign Wars along with the daughter to Tuskegee Airman George Watson , Tina, to his honors history class at Asbury Park High School to celebrate Veterans Day.

VFW Veterans Wilbur V. Martin, George Reed, and Ken Hodges, all Vietnam Veterans, shared their experiences about their service and what encouraged them to move forward after their time in the military.? Their shared experience was tied to the current situations with the Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Tina Watson

Returning to Asbury Park High School was Tina Watson, the daughter to Tuskegee Airman George Watson. She gladly shared a historical background about the Tuskegee Airmen and her father through the use of a Google Slide Show, visuals, medals such as the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart, and film clips from the famous movie Red Tails.

Dr. Medina, Asbury Park High School Principal, encouraged a continued partnership between the school and the VFW. This partnership was further strengthened by students current participation in the Patriot’s Pen.

League of Women Voters

Before the election took place on November 5, the League of Women Voters came to multiple history classes hosted by Mr. Wronko.

Voter registration

For the first two sessions, League of Women Voters Luisa Paster conducted a lesson on voter turn out and registration with the students. Throughout her lesson, she showed how people of different backgrounds voted in various times in history. She showed how once politicians started to appeal to the needs of everyone, voters regardless of their age, race, religion, and background came out to vote. In addition, Pat Luisa encouraged those students who were eighteen to register to vote and let their voice be heard.

History of voting rights

For the next lesson which was for Mr. Wronko’s ESL class, Luisa Paster was joined by Pat Schmiedel to conduct a lesson on the history of voting rights. What made this lesson very unique was that this class had Spanish, Creole, and English speaking students. To make this work, all Spanish students were given a headset which was controlled by a primary headset. One of Mr. Wronko’s students, Karla Castillo-Aviles, volunteered to translate through the primary headset. So when Luisa Paster taught the lesson in English, Mr. Wronko’s student translated it to Spanish for the other students in the room to understand. For the Creole speaking students, Mr. Wronko’s assistant, Ms. E., was able to provide them with the translation. By the end of the lesson and overcoming all challenges, the students provided positive feedback that they had learned alot.