Students at Newton County School District are working to make sure no veteran goes unacknowledged this Christmas through a partnership with the Wreaths Across America campaign.
Wreaths Across America is a national campaign to place a holiday wreath on the grave of every U.S. service member by Christmas, said Aaron Cooley, director of the Newton County Career and Technical Center. He said students are working to fulfil that mission at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Newton.
“There’s about 900 veterans’ graves in the cemetery,” he said, “And they’re adding them quickly.”
Although this is the first time the school district has been involved in the process, Cooley said the Wreaths Across America campaign has been around for several years.
“We actually had a student, who participated in a previous year’s wreath laying with their family,” he said. “I didn’t know a thing about it until this year.”
Through the Wreaths Across America campaign, individuals, families or businesses can purchase a wreath to be placed on a veteran’s grave. Wreaths can be purchased anonymously or in memory of a service member, Cooley said. Along with the wreath, sponsors can choose to send the veteran’s family a card telling them their loved one was chosen.
The wreaths, made of evergreen boughs with a red ribbon on the front, are assembled in Maine and shipped all over the country, Cooley said. The design, he said, is simple, but very beautiful.
“It’s the military, so they want to keep everything uniform,” he said. “They do look nice.”
The cost for each wreath is $15, Cooley said, and the deadline to order is Nov.27.
“That gives us a few days to get our paperwork in order,” he said. “I think their deadline is Dec. 2.”
Order forms can be picked up at the Newton County Career and Technical Center, by calling Cooley at 601-635-4138, or by emailing him at acooley@newton.k12.ms.us. Wreaths can also be purchased online at wreathsacrossamerica.org, Cooley said. However, specific requests must go through the school.
“If they want a wreath for a specific person at the Newton Cemetery, that has to come through us,” he said.
On Dec. 15, Cooley said, NCSD students will help lay the wreaths on graves at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Their hope, he said, is enough wreaths for each veteran’s grave.
