This February, the OH Wall of Honor had become an empty wall, and students began to see the active construction of a new, modern take on their Star-Spangled Wall of Honor.
“It was time to look to something a little bit more modern with digital imaging,” said OH assistant principal and football head coach Brian Cooney.
The Wall of Honor is a memorial next to the Main Office and door 36 to honor past OH alumni who took the path of military service after high school.
The Wall serves a similar purpose as others within the school, like the many that show athletic or educational excellence; those who choose the military path are shown the same recognition. The old take on the Wall of Honor held eight frames with 5×6 rows lined with pictures of past alumni, featuring a total of 240 past or current military members.
“[The Wall of Honor is] to pay respects for those who went into the military and defended our country, and did what they needed to do to give us the freedoms that we have here in America,” said Cooney.
This new design features text with the said Wall of Honor title and OH branding above, beneath that lies a center filled with the crests of the United States Marine Corps, Space Force, Air Force, Coast Guard, Navy, and Army, with one TV and one flag on each side.
There was not a formal announcement indicating that a change would be made to the Wall of Honor, and students took notice.
“Fairly recently, I was walking through the hallway, and I noticed that there was nothing where the Wall of Honor used to be,” said OH senior Lucas Arroyo. “I was kinda surprised that they had removed it and confused as to why it would happen unannounced.”
OH Special Education teacher and Cheer Coach Margaret Hill is one of the key leads behind the Wall of Honor, as she is also a US Army veteran. Hill clarified in an interview that this was not the abrupt change it’s at have seemed: the old wall’s design had come with many unforeseen issues.
“About three years ago, there was a committee that got together to discuss the maintenance of the wall. and its current status,” said Hill.
“We were at a standstill because the frames weren’t quite sustainable, obviously, we were running out of wall space, and then on top of that, we would have to wait for enough pictures to fill a frame.”
As for what students should expect in the future from the Wall of Honor, it is expected to be fully up and running by the end of the school year, along with all the new images of students that weren’t previously represented on the old wall.
“I would love to have it up and running by the end of the school year,” said Hill, “Hopefully sooner than that, if possible.”
The Wall of Honor serves to recognize those who are serving or have served in the U.S. Military. This new redesign ensures that future alumni who choose the military path are able to be recognized in a more efficient, modern way.
Hi! My name is Anthony Martel, I am a Senior at Oswego High School and this is my first year being apart of the 42Fifty staff. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
