Bellport Middle School students were provided the opportunity to visit with veterans on Nov. 8 prior to the nation’s annual Veterans Day. During the Take a Vet to School program, 10 veterans visited classrooms to discuss their experiences during military service. This is the first year the District hosted the event. 

Rocco DeVito told the students about his experiences in the Navy and his service on the USS Carl Vinson, a supercarrier whose deck serves as a landing and takeoff location for planes. He shared a video of takeoff and landing, telling the students “They took off day and night, 24 hours a day.”
Gary Travers, who was stationed in the U.S. Army’s Fort Hood base in Texas, described the Cuban Missile Crisis and how the U.S. prevented a nuclear war. 

Director of Humanities Jaclyn O’Hagan said the Take a Vet to School Program put veterans’ service into a real-life perspective and brought to life some of the historical events that students are currently learning about in their history classes.