Tyler McFadden

Senior Luke Snyder shows off some of the cards created for veterans on Honor Flights of Southern Indiana.

Gibson Southern’s Student Council is honoring veterans by writing cards for the Honor Flight of Southern Indiana for the Oct. 21 flight day. The Honor Flight is an organization that carries military veterans to Washington D.C. to see different memorials of their respective wars for a day at no cost to them.

At Gibson Southern, senior Luke Snyder decided to start a Student Council project for the Honor Flight. He works with the Honor Flight of Southern Indiana, volunteering as an escort to bring the veterans off of the flights.

“My dad works with a person at Toyota, Candy Moser, who is one of the managers of the Honor Flight of Southern Indiana,” Snyder said. “She helps set the whole thing up, and she asked our whole family if we were interested in volunteering. We all said, “Yes,” and I went to it for the first time and realized it was really cool, and something I really wanted to do.”

This year, Snyder will bring boxes of thank-you cards, made by Gibson Southern’s Student Council, to hand to the veterans as they get off the flight.

“I went to Mr. Gamroth one morning and brought the idea to him,” Snyder said. “[I] explained what I wanted to do with it because they did a similar thing at Haubstadt. So, I thought we could bring it out here.”

Ian Gamroth, Gibson Southern’s Student Council Advisor, as well as senior Claire Wisnoski, Gibson Southern’s Student Council President, agreed that Snyder’s idea was something in which they wanted the Student Council to participate.

“It’s a good thing to be a part of, and it makes the Student Council get involved in other things outside of school that we can be helpful with,” Wisnoski said.

From there, the three of them got to work on organizing the materials and deadlines for the cards. The Student Council started working on the cards on Sept. 1, with them being due on Sept. 18. 

“They do it in their own time,” Gamroth said. “We put it out there for them to take upon themselves to do two or three of these on their own time. If they need stuff, the Student Council is providing that, and they just get it back to us when they are done.”

The Student Council members were provided with construction paper and colored pencils to make their cards. 

“This was like an initiation for the freshman,” Wisnoski said. “They have to do the Honor Flight letters and then turn them in. Upperclassmen do not have to do it, but they are encouraged to do it.”

These cards will be handed to the veterans personally by Snyder as they get off of their flights. 

“Vets, I think, are used to having that appreciation shown from people of their own generation or older generations but not necessarily the younger,” Gamroth said. “I think having that younger generation show that appreciation is a lot more impactful.”

This year is the first year that Gibson Southern is involved with the Honor Flight. 

“Since this is our first year, we are just going to see how it happens,” Wisnoski said.

The Student Council’s goal is to carry this project on into the coming years. Currently, the Student Council is the main organization at Gibson Southern involved. 

“If we decide to do this again another time, then we could possibly open this up to the whole student body,” Gamroth said.

Volunteering for the Honor Flight is not limited to just the Student Council. There are many opportunities to get involved outside of Gibson Southern that can be found online.