In the minutes before school started, parents filed in and perused printed versions of their children’s schedules for JDS’ annual visiting day. Similarly to previous years, visiting day coincided with Veterans Day, which the school honored with an assembly.
Tori Ball, High School Math Chair and Dean of Experiential Learning and Leadership, said that it has been a longstanding tradition to host parents and visitors on Nov. 11, Veterans Day, since it is a federal holiday so many employers give the day off. Ball helped organize and plan the assembly to welcome parents to school and commemorate Veterans Day.
“It was important to acknowledge the fact that it was both a special, festive day at school, visiting day, and a serious day in America, Veterans Day,” Ball said. “So we decided to split the assembly half and half.”
The assembly opened with the singing of HaTikvah and the Star-Spangled Banner. This was followed by a performance by Shir Madness, the school a capella choir, and continued with various community announcements from students about the upcoming school STEM conference, high school musical and various sports games and tournaments.
The latter half of the assembly was dedicated to commemorating Veterans Day and included a sitdown interview with volleyball coach Juan Alcivar, an Iraq War veteran. Alcivar, a Dominican immigrant, joined the Army and was wounded when he was shot in the leg on a mission. Junior Molly Rose Cloutier also gave a speech about her father’s military career, and the assembly concluded with another musical performance.
Molly Rose said she was excited to talk about her father, Marc, and his 29-year Army career. Marc’s military career started with ROTC at American University. Afterward, he went on to serve in multiple units, including the 82nd and 101st Airborne Division, and completed multiple tours and deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and South Korea.
“My dad has always been really open about what he does and why he chose it,” Molly Rose said. “And I think it’s really made an impact on how I see the world and how I think about life.”
Molly Rose said that her mother, who was in the audience, cried as she recorded her speech to send to her father who couldn’t make it.
After the assembly, parents and students went to their scheduled class. Although Ball said didn’t dramatically alter her lesson plans for the day, she said she enjoyed hosting and engaging parents in her Geometry and Algebra II classes.
“Something that’s nice on visiting day is always having parents who are interested in what we’re doing, who try to participate,” Ball said. “You know, I’ve had years in the past where someone will bring a parent or grandparent who actually used to be a math teacher, and they’re always very excited to participate in class.”
Aaron Brickman, father of junior Micah, Dalya (‘24) and Aviva (‘22), said visiting day was memorable and meaningful for him as well. He has never missed a single visiting day for the past 17 years. Aaron, who also went to JDS from kindergarten to senior year, said sitting in on Micah’s classes and engaging with teachers brought back good memories of visiting days with his parents.
“There’s a certain fun to it,” Aaron said. “There’s emotion because of feeling, of seeing my children have the same experiences that I got to have–in a different school building, of course– but with some familiar faces and just satisfaction that I know they’re in good hands with the teachers and staff, and we’re having very similar experiences.”
