Saturday marked the 229th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution and students at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Elizabethton held a special ceremony Monday morning to commemorate Constitution Day.
“We do it every year,” said TCAT instructor Lisa Miller.
Each year the ceremony is different, Miller said.
“Last year we just all met around the flag pole and said the Pledge of Allegiance,” she said. “This year we had a group of students who wanted to put on a program.
“This is one of the emotional ones we’ve done,” Miller added. “Friday when they were rehearsing and reading their parts there were tears in their eyes.”
Monday morning’s ceremony began with the Presentation of the American Flag by students Amber Hicks and Chelsea Beam, both of whom were in the Junior ROTC programs at their high schools before graduating. Brittany Morrell then led her fellow students in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Stacy Williamson read the lyrics to the song America the Beautiful, which was followed by Cindy Lunceford sharing some historic facts about the U.S. Constitution and its signers.
Donna Morrell then gave a presentation on The Constitution Today.
Gideon VanPelt and Amanda Morinico read the poem entitled “Old Glory” which is a tribute to the American Flag. As the two read the poem, Hicks and Beam performed the folding of the American Flag to close out the ceremony.
To get in the spirit of Sept. 17, 1787 — when the Constitution was signed — student Linda Solly portrayed Betsy Ross for the event at the school.
Students in the Administrative Office Technology, Computer Information Technology, Electricity/Electronics, and Pipefitting/Plumbing programs attended the program Monday morning.
The TCAT school as a whole had planned for students to gather around the flag pole to recite the Pledge of Allegiance but plans were changed at the last minute due to the rainy weather Monday morning.
Instead of having the students go to the flag, Hicks and Beam brought the flag to their fellow students. The two made stops in every class on campus Monday morning to present the flag and have the students recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Many of the students in the other classes thanked Hicks and Beam for presenting the flag and honoring the nation.
At the conclusion of the event, Miller said she was proud of the students.
“They did a great job,” she said. “It’s a very, very touching moment.”
“It is a very emotional time for our Constitution Day ceremony with the bombings that happened over the weekend and being so close to the anniversary of 9/11,” she added.