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Mount Vernon High School celebrates veterans

Skagit Valley Herald - 11/5/2019

Nov. 5--MOUNT VERNON -- Army National Guard Sgt. Tricia Scheer has sung at Gov. Jay Inslee's second inauguration, state events and Seahawks games.

On Monday morning, her voice rang out in the Mount Vernon High School gymnasium as she sang the National Anthem as part of the school's annual Veterans Day ceremony.

With a color guard of veterans holding flags just feet away, Scheer later spoke to the students there about the importance of Veterans Day, not only to honor those who have served in the U.S. armed forces, but as a way to think about themselves.

"I want to relay to you that you're important," the Burlington-Edison High School graduate told the students. "What you do matters."

Scheer told the students that when she was their age, she hadn't considered a military career. That changed on her 20th birthday.

"On my 20th birthday, about 9:30 a.m., I woke up to a plane crash in New York," she said of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. "I realized we were at war."

Scheer said she wanted students to know that wherever their interests lie, they too could find a path in the military.

Being in the National Guard has allowed her to have both a military and a civilian life, she said, first as a medic and then with the Army National Guard band, where she travels throughout the region.

"I do it to try and help the upcoming generations relate and understand the military as something to be honored and valued," Scheer said. "And also as a career choice."

When she enlisted as a medic, she never thought she would be where she is now, standing in front of audiences doing what she loves -- singing.

The military, she said, can provide careers in a variety of fields.

"My voice commands the attention of generals and dignitaries," she told the students.

Scheer was joined at the podium by Mount Vernon High School health teacher Theresa Thomas, who was Scheer's eighth-grade teacher at Allen Elementary School in Bow.

A poster in Thomas' classroom that read "What's popular isn't always right. What's right isn't always popular," stuck with her, Scheer said.

"It's important for them to realize they can be part of something that's bigger than themselves," she said afterward.

-- Reporter Kera Wanielista: 360-416-2141, kwanielista@skagitpublishing.com, Twitter: @Kera_SVH, facebook.com/KeraReports

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(c)2019 the Skagit Valley Herald (Mount Vernon, Wash.)

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