By Cathy Iino.
A video in honor of the memories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in our nation’s military service will be broadcast at 8:00 am tomorrow morning, May 31, on Channel 18, the Haddam-Killingworth High School television station. You can also watch it on the RSD17 website here.
Many thanks to HKHS students Logan DiCicco, Shelby Welsch, and Tech Ed teacher Kasha Topa-Finberg for creating the video. Thanks also to HK Middle School literacy coach Paige Callahan and the language arts staff for conducting the annual seventh grade Memorial Day poetry competition, and to all five finalists, whose outstanding poems show how deeply they thought about the sacrifices that have made our freedoms possible.
The finalists were:
Dina Kilroy, First Place, “War Wounds”
Catherine Nguyen, First Place, “Folded and Smothered in Blood”
Addison Harkin, Third Place, “Memorial Day”
Tetsu Imai, “I, the Gravestone”
Mikayla Ruggiero, “For Justice and for Freedom”
Ms. Nguyen and Ms. Kilroy read their poems in the video.
The Killingworth Volunteer Fire Company, in the spirit of mutual aid that keeps us strong, will be participating in the Haddam Memorial Day parade this year. The press of calls prevented them from taking part in the video recording, but we know they were there in spirit, and we are eternally grateful for the priority they give to their service as first responders.
I would also like to thank Howard Land Clearing and Tree Removal for generously donating their service to place the flags along Route 81. And thanks to Suzanne Langer for the glorious new American flag in front of Town Hall.
Killingworth stands together in remembering the Americans who gave their all for their country and its enduring ideals.
Photo by Olivia Drake.