During a Friday night football game, there’s always competition on the field, but when the Mill Creek HS Hawks hosted the Duluth HS Wildcats last month, the emphasis was on the theme “Together we make an iMpaCt.”
Mill Creek hosted the school’s 3rd annual Service Appreciation Night before that evening’s football game where the crowd had the opportunity to honor those who serve our community and country— past and present— including military service members, law enforcement representatives, paramedics, EMTs, and firefighters, as well as federal, state, and local emergency service personnel.
“It takes all of us to make our community strong and that is what we are trying to do with this event,” says Faith Davenport, who teaches marketing at Mill Creek and serves as co-sponsor for DECA, the co-curricular marketing club that sponsored Service Appreciation Night. “This is my favorite event of the year because it brings our community together to thank those who serve but it also gives us a time to reflect on all that they do for us.”
DECA club officers staffed a letter-writing table where event participants could pen thank-you letters to service members stationed overseas. (The letters will be delivered during Thanksgiving holidays.) In addition, club members set up a Kids Fun Zone for children to play and helped in the hospitality tent where participating service personnel were served food donated by area restaurants.
While service personnel were honorees at the game, more than 100 individuals from 27 agencies and departments took time before the game to answer questions about their work, pose for photos, and show off their equipment to Mill Creek and Duluth cluster students and their families.
School Resource Officer Hayden McCall, who organized participation of military and emergency service personnel for the pre-game event, says the evening also gave young people an opportunity to explore career choices that they may not have considered before. “This provides them an opportunity to meet and talk with a police officer, firefighter, FBI agent, crime scene technician, helicopter pilot, SWAT officer, etc.,” he says. “Many students and parents view our service personnel as a positive role model and we want our students, regardless of their age, to be comfortable speaking with any service individual.”
The event featured a variety of law enforcement and fire equipment and vehicles, helicopters, and the U.S. Marine Corps’ Enhanced Marketing Vehicle (EMV) gaming tractor trailer. Shortly before kickoff, the U.S. Army Silver Wing Parachute Team descended on to the field, dropping in with the game ball.