Veteran’s Day Tribute

Clarinet in one hand, his notice in the other. A heavy decision to make. He grasps both tightly as he takes his next step in life. Assistant band director Luis Hernandez served for 24 years in the Army Reserve and as a Veteran of Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. “My dad was in the military for 35 years,” Hernandez said. “It was more of a family tradition thing. My older brother gradu...

A sergeant roams the halls. Through the drug wars in Colombia to the high skies above, he has never stopped teaching. And he has no plans to stop yet. World history teacher and girls soccer coach Charles Johnson served in the Army as a UH-60 Black Hawk crew chief. Johnson enlisted straight out of high school and served through 1992-2000. "Growing up, I always wanted to join the service," Johnson...

The room, filled with the smell of grease and oil, is decorated with flags bearing the Air Force emblem. Once an Air Force mechanic, Robert Salazar now teaches auto mechanics to high school students to pass on his knowledge. Before teaching in Canyon, auto mechanics teacher Robert Salazar taught high school on the Navajo reservation near Gallup, New Mexico for one year and at New Mexico Junior Col...

Boots on the ground. Chopper in the air. Gun in hand. Enemy nearby. The classic example of what it means to be in the military, right? Veteran and social studies teacher Jeremy Chettinger says otherwise. “I was going to college at the time and decided to join the military for the GI bill,” Chettinger said. “I had a long history of people in my family serving in the military. My dad served...