L.B. schools launch veterans memorial project To include past and present vets from school community BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer Meredith Miller LONG BRANCH - - When Long Branch educator Meredith Miller learned she was to launch a project as part of being named district teacher of the year, she saw an opportunity to make a difference in the community. So now, a first-of-its kind project to create an educational veterans memorial to honor students, staff and board members of the Long Branch public schools who have served, or are serving in the U.S. armed forces is underway in the city. "This a history teacher's dream come true," said Miller, who teaches history at Long Branch High School, in an interview last week. "The whole reason I became a teacher was to make a difference and with this, I will," Miller, who is acting as the veterans memorial committee chairwoman, said. The memorial wall will be unlike other veterans plaques and walls, Miller explained, adding that it will include an educational component to create an emotional connection with students. "Students walk by plaques all the time, but they don't know who is being remembered," Miller said. "My hope is to change that." Although just in the planning stages, Miller explained that the memorial will be constructed outside the new high school on Indiana Avenue. The names of students, staff and board members dating back to when the school opened in the late 1800s who served in all six branches of the armed forces will be engraved on panels that will be constructed on the wall of the high school. The memorial will also consist of pavers and a reflecting pool, which will be a circulatory area where people can come to sit, learn, meet and reflect, Miller explained. The project is planned for completion by September 2011, she said. "This will not be just a wall," Miller said, "It will be where students, community and staff can visit. "And what is so important, is the educational component it will offer," Miller added. The plan is to incorporate the wall into the classroom, as envisioned by Miller. For example, she said, adding that the visual and performing arts classes can use it as research for a play on heroes. Science classes can study the architecture of the memorial, Miller said, adding that math classes can use the wall for geometry classes. "There are endless possibilities," she said. "And the reflection pool area can be used as a classroom or a meeting place for the community." As plans move forward, Miller said technology components will be included in the memorial, such as a touch screen that would look up names of veterans, the wars they served in and the dates they served. "We want to show these kids that a veteran is not only an 84-year-old man in a wheelchair," Miller said. "It could be a 24-year-old. "We are always memorializing past wars," she continued. "We need to be more contemporary and appeal to the younger generation. "We want to show these kids that those who served in the defense of this country are important and should be remembered." The idea for a school veterans memorial to remember graduates of the Long Branch School District has been a longtime dream of the Long Branch Board of Education and Superintendent Joseph M. Ferraina, Miller said. And Miller said she is lucky to be able to turn the dream into a reality. A veterans memorial committee made up of 10 members from all areas of the school district has been formed to not only oversee the construction of the project, but to remain involved to update the memorial in the future, according to Miller. Participation in the memorial is also being extended to family members and friends of the Long Branch School District community, according to Miller. "There will be the opportunity for pavers to be purchased for family members to be memorialized," Miller said. "Or maybe a bench at the reflection pool. "If we can do this within the school community, we will have this wonderful, living thing, not just a wall. And we will open up community relations with the school," Miller said. "This memorial is not just going to be a pile of rocks," she said. "It will be where students, community and staff could come together. It is an outside memorial to draw the community together." The veterans memorial committee is actively seeking people who are veterans. For more information or to provide information on a veteran, call (732) 571- 2868, ext. 40045 or (732) 894-0578. The committee is also seeking financial sponsorships to support the project. Since the project is in its planning phases, an estimated cost has not been projected yet, according to Miller. She added that the first fundraising opportunity will be held this month. The veterans memorial committee has been adopted by the Long Branch Wave of Hope, which is a fundraising foundation that grew out of the Long Branch public schools. With the help of the Wave of Hope, the committee is hosting its first annual Veterans Memorial Golf Tournament and Banquet Aug. 27 at 1 p.m. at Sun Eagles golf course on Fort Monmouth. For a $100 contribution, the name of a business or family will be displayed at a hole on the golf course. All proceeds will directly benefit the memorial. "There has been an outpouring of excitement from the community and staff because their relatives, most of whom are the younger vets, are going to be memorialized," Miller said. "As a teacher, you really want to touch your students' hearts. A memorial is a great way to do that and it has to be done with the right components. "We are drawing on education and the newest fads to accomplish that," she said.