As the tables in the library filled with a breakfast feast, veterans flooded in to be honored for their service. 

On Nov. 10, Rho Kappa partnered with the Rock Ridge Oscar Mike Military Connect Club and the Stone Hill Military Connected Student Ambassadors program to put together a breakfast buffet for veterans. Members and volunteers joined to make this event special and honor the service given to our country. The effort to inform and connect the student body with other military children was rewarded with the Purple Star award. The Purple Star Award is given to military-welcoming schools that have shown tremendous commitment to students and their families with military connections.

Counselor Ashlee Erestain, the head of the Military Connect Club, is very involved in the military community. Erestain’s connection to the military, through family and community both growing up and now, is abundant. “[Military children] are very prideful and don’t always ask for help, so being present and visible in the community will help them feel more comfortable to approach and ask for help,” Erestain said. “That is why I got into it, and I’m very passionate about it. I saw an opportunity and I wanted to take it to help out Rock Ridge.” Erestain’s efforts to strengthen Rock Ridge’s military community of both students and parents have had a large role to play in the school’s Purple Star award.

Rock Ridge partnered with Stone Hill’s Military Connected Student Ambassadors Program in this event to reach a larger audience and honor more veterans. Stone Hill seventh grade history teacher, Valerie Mizerak, previously served in the U.S. Army for 11 years and joined the program in hopes of becoming a Purple Star school. “I think it’s important that our military-connected students feel like they are part of the community because they do jump around so much [and] for them to know who is also military-connected so they can seek them out,” Mizerak said. “Maybe they will run into [one another] in the future at another location. [It’s] just another way of making that connection, which is important.” 

This partnership and connection to the local community invited veterans to the doorstep of Rock Ridge. The breakfast to honor the veterans’ service is a yearly event in various schools around the country. Veteran’s Day is officially celebrated at hour 11 of 11/11, revisiting the exact anniversary of the end of World War 1. Veteran Christopher Cole served in the U.S. Space Force and was welcomed to the breakfast. “For me, it’s important to recognize all of the special events that occur throughout the calendar year,” Cole said. “We [have a] very diverse culture here, especially in Loudoun County. We recognize some of our other cultural uniqueness like Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, and Diwali. So, Veteran’s Day is another special event that recognizes service members who have served.”

This annual Rho Kappa Veteran’s Day event brought together students, veterans, and teachers to thank veterans for their service and help military-connected students, from middle school and high school, find others they can connect with.

Gallery • 8 Photos

Riya Cherukuri

Jennifer Alberth, the sixth-grade guidance counselor at Stone Hill Middle School, introduces a video honoring veterans while the veterans and their families are seated with their breakfast. “I was approached by Ms. Alberth. She wanted someone with more military experience and who served in the military to help out in the program,” veteran and seventh-grade history teacher Valerie Mizerak said. “I've been able to dedicate more time to it this year.”