Sunday, June 16, 2024
Five students from Granbury Independent School District received a huge honor during a school board meeting May 20.
Fifth graders Gracelyn Barker (Baccus Elementary School), Cambrie Bohney (Acton Elementary School), Elly Thorne (Oak Woods School), Mariana Espinoza (Brawner Elementary School) and Levi Cox (STEAM Academy at Mambrino) were crowned the winners of the J.C. Campbell Memorial Day Essay Contest.
The contest was initiated in 2014 by Campbell, who passed away in 2021. Campbell was a veteran and community leader who felt it was important for students to commemorate armed services personnel who have died in service to the nation.
The program objective stated, “Many students think Memorial Day is simply a day to ‘celebrate’ a day off from school. They don’t realize it is instead a day to ‘commemorate’ or remember those who have lost their lives in all American wars. The objective of this contest is to help students understand the true meaning of this day.”
Prior to the school board meeting, the GISD students were honored with a 20-minute ceremony in the corridor of the administration building, where the overall grand prize winner was announced.
"I'd like to just say that J.C.'s desire to see this continue with our fifth graders, writing essays about what Memorial Day means to them, is just as important to me,” Chief of Police Mitch Galvan said during the ceremony. “Because I believe that it's our duty and our responsibility to make sure that all our generations understand the true meaning of Memorial Day, and that it's a reflection on all the men and women in our armed forces who have given their lives to allow us to have the freedoms that we enjoy today and every day.”
Galvan explained that when the contest first began, the committee wanted to find a sponsor who would give the overall grand prize winner a $100 gift.
“I had to jump at that really quick, because I believed in this so much that I said, ‘I’ll take care of that level of responsibility,’” he said. “So, I’ve had the honor and the privilege to award the grand prize winner $100 every year, and I’m going to continue to do that until somebody stops me.”
He then announced the winner of the essay contest, with its topic of “What Memorial Day means to me,” was Levi Cox — who coincidentally accepted the award on his birthday.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you very much for writing such wonderful essays,” Galvan said. “Y'all did an incredible job.”
Cox was then asked to read his essay out loud, which reads:
“Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. It was originally called this because people would go to fallen soldier’s graves and decorate them. The first Decoration Day was May 5, 1868. Many towns claimed to have held the first Decoration Day, but Waterloo, New York got the most credit for the first Decoration Day. Waterloo calls itself “The birthplace of Memorial Day.” This happened after the Civil War. Memorial Day became a national holiday in 1971. It is held on the last Monday of May each year. It will be celebrated on Monday, May 27, this year. Memorial Day is for remembrance of soldiers who died in war fighting for America and its freedom.
“For Memorial Day, my family and I go to a cemetery where my great-grandpa is buried. My great-grandpa fought in the Vietnam War and died. Every Memorial Day, we go to his grave and decorate it as a family. We decorate the grave with bouquets of flowers that are red, white and blue for the colors of the American flag. Then we take photos to remember the day. After we visit the grave, we go to my paw paws’ house and hangout, have a barbecue and have fun.
“To me, Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor fallen soldiers who have sacrificed themselves for America and for our freedoms. When I was younger, I wanted to be in the Army so bad I dressed up as a soldier for Halloween three years in a row. I also only liked to watch videos about the Army. When I am older, I would like to be a part of the U.S. Army to serve America just like my great-grandpa did. I would like to start putting flags up in my yard. Because without those people, we might not be America today. If it wasn’t for them risking their lives daily to protect us so we would be safe from our enemies. Not only do these soldiers risk their lives for Americans, they never think twice about it. So, this Memorial Day, I want to do everything I can to remember and honor the fallen soldiers.”
Julia Pannell, community leader and former chairman of the Friends of Memorial Lane, spoke during the school board meeting Monday and explained there were a total of 471 essays submitted for the contest.
"To make it time effective, we had a beautiful ceremony at 5:30,” she said. “I hope you take the opportunity to go out and look what Mambrino school did to have it set up for the winners. It was wonderful. A part of that was Mitch Galvin, the (police) chief that has for eight years presented a $100 check to the all-district level winner, which you will meet tonight, and also, Faye Landham, who gave each winner a gift. Each winner was presented with a medallion and each winner was presented with a big blue ribbon.”
As each student was announced, Pannell recommended that anyone in the audience as well as the school board members see the “beautiful display,” outside the board room.
"We thank you, young people, for taking the time to understand what Memorial Day is,” Pannell said. “It was so vital to J.C. Campbell that students understand what Memorial Day is.”
“Thank you to the Pannells and to Faye Landham and all the others that worked to allow this to take place,” board President Barbara Townsend said. “Four hundred and seventy-one essays is a lot to read. J.C. would be very, very proud.”
As the overall winner, Cox will also be asked to read his essay May 27, at 8:30 a.m. during the Memorial Day Ceremony at the Jim Burks Firefighters Memorial Park, 561 N. Travis St.
