HS Mission Honor Veterans Project Mission Honor Is a grassroots effort to create a national campaign to honor all our veterans at the high school level. Shortly after high school, most of our veterans leave their communities to serve our country. While many years and miles have come between many of our veterans and their home communities, they are not forgotten. The BHS Veterans Project is a spinoff of the Hall of Honor program and the third step of capturing the storied history of Butler High School (Athletic Walk of Fame, Hall of Honor & the BHS Mission Honor Veterans Project). While Butler s War Dead has been well documented since WWII, the remaining veteran s population has not been recognized. It is the serving that makes them a hero. Our War Dead were heroes when they chose to serve. It is time all our veterans are recognized for their service and the fact that they were able to come home doesn t diminish our admiration or sincere thankfulness for their service. The BHS Mission Honor Veterans Project will culminated with the installation of a monument on school property, honoring classmates who walked the halls of Butler High School and went off to serve our country as a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard and Merchant Marines. The ceremony took place on Armed Forces Day May 20, 2017. Butler High School s Mission Honor Veterans Monument will become the benchmark for other schools to establish a Mission Honor Veterans Project at their schools. All the processes, costs and approaches are being documented and will be published in a simple to follow how-to manual available on the BHS website - for other high schools that need guidance in ways to honor their veterans. Timeline ITEM TIMING Phase 1 Collect Submissions Veterans Day 2014 Approved By High School June 2015 Phase 1 Submission Collection Ends December 31, 2015 Planning & Design January 2016 to February 2016 Phase 2 Veteran Approval and Research Additional Submissions January 2016 to April 2017 Proofing March 2016 to May 2017 Fundraising March 2016 to April 2017 Initial Installation October 2016 Installation Engraving, Flag, Bench, Sign (as funds permitted) October 2016 to May 2107 Ceremony May 2017 The project was not originally school sponsored. Once a core amount of submissions was documented, the school was approached for approval. This approval identified the project as a legitimate program of the school and allowed it to move forward at a faster pace.
To do this project, with the framework and example presented here, should take approximately one and a half years. MONUMENT TYPES There are different designs and approaches you can take. We liked a design, which happened to be one of the more expensive designs, based on our initial criteria to make it visible, since this would be the start of the Mission Honor program. It was developed to be self-contained with little aggressive fundraising activity. No school funds were required. The challenge we faced to accomplished this was people weren t one hundred percent sure what they were getting for their money. NOW, you have the BHS Mission Honor as a visual. Some of the generic monument designs, which can be considered, are: Indoor designs are the least expensive way to go, but are not usually visible to the general public. The more construction to be done, the more expensive the budget. We based our design on the paver design above. Once we determined the type of design, we selected the information we wanted to show in the monument. The name alone wasn t sufficient, so we decided on showing: The Veterans Name Their Class Year (that the graduated or would have graduated)
Their Branch of Service LOCATION The initial location was chosen because of its high visibility profile on the school property
An Initial design was approved Below is the completed monument
BUDGETING (Actual) Pavers 3800 Repairs To Existing Monument 900 700 Limestone 200 Repair Advertising 200 Engraving (Vets and TY) 22000 Area Prep and Installation 15000 Shubbery 750 Flagpole 1900 Flagpost/Flag/Solar Labor Bench w/plaque 1450 1015 bench 220 Plaque 215 Labor Sign 2250 1200 Sign Graphic Posts Flower Bed Plaque Labor Pentagon Flag Display 500 Ceremony 5000 2000 Food 2200 Booklet 800 Displays Total 53,750
FUNDRAISING (Actual) Thank You Pavers $13,000 Sponsor a Veteran 5,000 Bench, Flag and Sign Sponsorship 12,000 General Donation 5,000 Corporate Sponsorship 2,750 Volunteer 16,000 Total $53,750 For us the three main fundraising activities were Volunteer (A former alumni donated all work to put in the initial installation). Thank you pavers are placed in the walkways leading to the veteran pavers as personal notes to the veterans and cost $200 a piece. For all future Mission Honor fundraising activities, the Thank You paver should be the main fundraising activity. The $3,000 sponsorships for the flag, bench and sign is another, relatively easy way to raise funds. The Booster Club provided an account to input and withdrawal needed funding.
These are the individuals and expertise you will need to complete this project Mission Honor Project Diagram Project Mgr Database Veteran Liaison School Champion Web Research School Liaison Proofreader Media/Social Media Graphic Artist Construction Financial This will provide an overview of the timing of activities. Mission Honor School Approval Budget Location Selection Site Graphic Site Approval Fundraising Form Committee Planning Design Awareness Social Media PR Engrave Veterans Plaque/ Pavers Site Install Website/ Forms Database Submissions Proofing Ceremony
Main Forms needed Build Database Not shown for privacy reasons is the contact info for individuals submitting the form incase there is any questions during the proofing pahse. If you have additional questions regarding doing a Mission Honor program at you school, please feel free to contact Steve Mulligan at stevem3@optonline.net