Eureka High Hosts Military Signing Ceremony

Eureka High held its annual Military Signing Ceremony at the school on Friday, April 26, honoring six students who will join branches of service after graduation.

Friends, family members and Eureka staff gathered in the school auditorium to honor Kris Daugherty, Ean Gregg and Carter Kacer (Air Force), Mason Dutton and Ezekiel Hammer (Navy) and Ryan Thornhill, who plans to attend the US Naval Academy.

Guest speaker Rich Brzenk, who is also a sepcial education paraprofessional at Eureka, spoke on "What it Means to Serve" to the students and family in attendance. Assistant Principal Dr. David Arledge also spoke to the students, acknowledging their decision to be a part of something bigger.

"This decision will provide these students with lessons that cannot be learned in a classroom and the training, career mobility and benefits to live life to the fullest while giving them a community, connection and common purpose that is rarely found in life," Arledge said.

Eureka is one of nine individual schools and two districts in this year’s cohort of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Purple Star program, recognizing schools and districts that show outstanding commitment to students and families connected to the U.S. military.

Some of the students at the ceremony come from families that have a military history, and some were the first in their family to join.

One family in particular shares a deep history in the military. Kacer is enlisted in the Air Force and has been assigned as an Advanced Fighter Aircraft Integrated Avionics specialist. He also recently completed his certification in Cisco Networking at Vocational Tech.

His grandfather was drafted into the Army the 1960s and shared his pride that his Kacer was taking these steps in his life. Kacer's father, who served in the Navy, said this is the best decision Kacer has made.

After the ceremony, the families were treated with custom-made cookies representing the branches of service that the students were joining and water bottles wrapped in the military logos. 

"Each detail of this ceremony was thought out, and we tried to show our support in every way we could," said Eureka Associate Principal Jennifer Strauser, who led the ceremony.