Parkview's Parade Honors Military Heroes

Parkview's Parade Honors Military Heroes
     Everybody loves a parade, especially Parkview School’s annual Americanism Parade! This was evident as hundreds of spectators lined Elliott Street on February 22 to watch the school’s 42nd Annual Americanism Parade.
     “Honoring Our Military Heroes” was the theme for the parade which featured a line-up of enthusiastically patriotic students, marching bands and distinguished guests proudly marching in honor of the brave men and women who have served, and currently serve, in the United States Armed Forces.
     Each classroom represented one of our country’s great military branches and students proudly waved banners, posters and props depicting their branch of service including the active duty, reserve and guard forces, veterans and retirees from the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy.
     Joining in the patriotic celebration were El Monte Mayor Pro Tem, Jerry Velasco, along with Mountain View School District School Board Members, Veronica Sifuentes and Christian Diaz. Several other distinguished guests sat in the grand stands cheering on the students as they marched by. Enthusiastic parade watchers lined the street learning several facts about each branch of the military from parade emcees, George Schonborn and Tony Lugo who provided an informative commentary, paying homage to our courageous military heroes.
     Taking part in the parade were the incredible marching bands and auxiliary units from Mt. View High School, El Monte High School, South El Monte High School, Madrid Middle School and Kranz Intermediate School, as well as the El Monte Police Department officers, SWAT members, and mounted patrol, THINK Together staff, parent volunteers, District maintenance staff and Parkview School retirees.
     Serving as Grand Marshals were three beloved retired Parkview teachers, Catarina Spiess, Susan Hernandez and Steve Hutton, who along with Parkview’s Teacher of the Year, Diane Villagran-Basil and Classified Employee of the Year, Norma Berumen waved to the crowd as they were escorted down the parade route atop convertible cars.
     “This parade is a great community event that we all look forward to each year,” said Lillian Maldonado French, MVSD Superintendent. “I appreciate Parkview’s team for putting together such a wonderful event for the entire community.”
     The parade is a beloved tradition for many El Monte community members who attend year after year.
     “It’s great to see the students celebrating America and honoring our military,” said Carlos Huesca, who was proudly watching his grandsons march in the parade. “There’s always a big crowd and the students seem to really enjoy it.”
     The Americanism Parade is the culminating activity to a month of patriotic research, writing, language and drama activities Parkview students participate in during February encouraging their appreciation of America and its freedoms.
      Parkview’s principal, Sylvia Rivera appreciates the great community support the parade continues to receive and is happy the tradition continues for the students.
     “The students love this parade, and so do all of us here at Parkview! It’s wonderful to see the great community support we get and watching our students show their patriotism and have so much fun is truly priceless. We are happy to work on the parade each year and be able to create life-long memories for our students.”
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