Dover South Elementary students brought photos of special veterans in their lives to display on the school's "Wall of Honor." (Dover City Schools)

DOVER (WJER) - The Dover school district’s youngest students have been gaining a new understanding and appreciation of our nation’s servicemembers for Veterans Day. 

South Elementary has a wall of heroes display, showing the pictures and stories of veteran family members, submitted by the pre-K through first-graders there. One of them is Mackenzie, a kindergarten student.

“My Papa, he was in the U.S. Navies, and I love him and he was like saving the world and this Earth.” 

Principal Tracie Murphy says she’s been impressed by the participation.

“The number of heroes that they’ve brought in has just been amazing, and we just have so many families that this is important to them. They have relatives, parents, grandparents that are either currently serving or have served so it’s amazing to me what they already know.”

And another student, a first-grader named Emma whose dad is in the Air Force, says these school activities can become emotional.

“One time I cried. I cried. I literally cried. We were just doing our little song in our class and I was just like crying.”

Murphy says they were also having veterans come to each classroom to read a story of their choice, to help the kids learn how important Veterans Day is.  

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