Photo Credit: KYRA BACON
BY KYRA BACON
CCHS was honored to have Retired Admiral Stephen Rochon and Congressman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz speak about the importance of Black History Month on Monday, February 25th, from 12:00 to 1:00pm in the auditorium.
The presentation was a way to give students a firsthand account of the importance of African Americans in the military and to celebrate Black History Month. Rochon, who was the first African American to hold office in the White House as the Chief Usher, was greeted by hundreds of attentive students, including the NJROTC class. CCHS was one of several schools the admiral went to that day to share his story with the county. Crew members of the USCG Cutter Richard Etheridge attended the ceremony as well. The presentation started off at 12:00 pm when several NJROTC officers performed a presentation of colors during the pledge of allegiance. Congresswoman Wasserman-Schultz delivered a short speech about the importance of African Americans to the military, and then proceeded to introduce Rochon. She then said her goodbyes as she headed off to Washington D.C. to debate a congressional issue.
“Decades upon decades of African Americans have done remarkable things for our country and no one knows about them,” Wasserman-Schultz said in her opening speech. “That is what Black History Month is for.”
A short video was then played about a few heroic African American soldiers who gave their lives to the justice of the United States. Rochon commented on his first meeting with Wasserman-Schultz, claiming that she was his favorite congresswoman. He then told his story of his fight in several wars and was followed by a few remarks by the crew of Etheridge.
“I thought the presentation was really special,” junior Mina Entessari said. “I had the chance to hear from an influential general and a person who worked for the government and I found his story very interesting. I thought the presentation was really inspirational. It made me think about how we need to sometimes put others before ourselves and to not to give up in difficult situations but to hit them head on.”
