Freedom is never free — and on Veterans Day, Canyons District schools pause to remember the men and women whose service has safeguarded the rights we enjoy, including the right to a free and appropriate education.
Every Veterans Day, CSD classrooms open their doors to parents, neighbors, and grandparents in uniform who exemplify what it means to stand for something larger than oneself. Schools host assemblies and patriotic singalongs while showcasing photo galleries of hometown heroes. Canyons also partners with the City of Sandy to invite students to participate in the city’s annual “High Cost of Freedom Writing Contest.”
New this year, the District is also expressing gratitude with the installation of a permanent tribute — a Veterans Dedication Wall at the District Office in honor of all CSD employees who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
“This wall stands as a daily reminder of the courage and discipline that define military service. Our students benefit from the freedoms that generations of veterans have fought to defend,” said Canyons Superintendent Dr. Rick Robins. “We want them to understand that those freedoms come with responsibility — a responsibility to learn, to serve, and to contribute.”
It’s a lesson reinforced through Canyons’ community partnerships.
Sandy City’s essay contest, held as part of Founders’ Month, encourages students to ponder the high cost of freedom by reflecting personally on a series of phrases inscribed on Sandy City’s Utah Freedom Memorial, a 15-foot-tall granite pentagonal obelisk representing all branch of the military. The phrases are:
- Freedom Cherished Gratefully
- Battles Fought Courageously
- Loss Remembered Reverently
- Lives Altered Permanently
- Hope Held Faithfully
“Storytelling is the oldest form of teaching,” Dr. Robins said. “When veterans share their stories, their experiences and role in history resonate more with students, which comes full circle when students are able to share in their own words what freedom means to them.”
Selected essays will be displayed on the Utah Freedom Memorial at Sandy City Hall, and winning students will be recognized at the Superintendent’s Awards.
The contest is open to all students in the following grade groupings — K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12 — and the submission deadline is Friday, Nov. 28, 2025.
Submit your essay here: https://bit.ly/47LJQlL Questions? Contact Charisse Hilton at charisse.hilton@canyonsdistrict.org
