New Richmond High School teacher Rick Mahan has kicked off his campaign to identify the names of any alumni or New Richmond school district employee who served in the military and were honorably discharged for the school’s Wall of Honor to be installed on the glass wall panels outside the high school cafeteria.
“We have an academic Hall of Fame and an athletic Hall of Fame, why not something for veterans,” said Mahan, a Gulf War veteran and past commander of VFW Post 6770 in New Richmond, who won school board approval in April for his project.
Mahan’s plan is for names of veterans to be etched under their military branch logos on clear fiberglass that will be attached to the glass panels outside the cafeteria near the doors to the auditorium and media center at the high school. New Richmond’s American Legion and VFW posts will sponsor the project and will be responsible for raising the funds for the project and maintaining it in the future.
“We have created a gofundme.com page (https://www.gofundme.com/NRwallofhonor) for donations, but anyone not comfortable with gofundme since they keep part of the donations can mail them to NR Wall of Honor, P.O. Box 112, New Richmond, OH 45157,” said Mahan. “All funds will go to the creation and maintenance of the Wall.”
Links to printable and online application forms as well as the donation page are available at www.nrschools.org.
Mahan also has created a New Richmond Wall of Honor Facebook page and can be reached at Mahan_r@nrschools.org.
The names will be placed in no particular order to recognize all who served equally and because names will be added in the future as they are verified.
“It also makes those looking for their own names to take a minute to see others around them that they may remember,” said Mahan. “Students can look for their parents and grandparents, and the look will be part of the experience.”
The graduation requirement will be waived for New Richmond High School students who served in the military in World War II and before when many students dropped out of school to serve during wartime.
The New Richmond Education Foundation has traced the history of the high school to the 1830s.