JROTC cadets at Seneca Valley plant flags on campus to commemorate Patriot Day

September 11, 2026 Last Updated: September 10, 2026 07:04 PM Local News

Seneca Valley JROTC cadets from Ryan Gloyer Middle School place American flags around the Seneca Valley secondary campus in remembrance of 9/11, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle

Matthew Brown

JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley School District’s main campus was arrayed with a Patriot Day display on a chilly Thursday morning, Sept. 10, as the district’s JROTC students planted more than 200 American flags.

Wearing their new camouflage uniforms, eighth-grade cadets of Ryan Gloyer Middle School broke off into four groups on school grounds to place the flags starting at 8:10 a.m.

The display is intended to remember the victims of Sept. 11, 2001, and also as a tribute to veterans who will be in attendance for the district’s Patriot Day event recognizing veterans on Friday, Sept. 11.

The flags also serve to remind the schools’ communities about the significance of Patriot Day, said Howard Keebler, a retired colonel who is now senior army instructor for the district’s JROTC program.

“It's another reminder (that), ‘Hey, something happened, we need to think about, and appreciate what we have today,’” Keebler said.

“The kids learn something along ways,” he added. The group project tests the cadets’ ability to plan and work together.

Ada Smith, an eighth-grade student who was leading the activity, said raising flags builds leadership skills. Ada is the class leader for the middle school batch.

“I think it enforces respect and all the building blocks of being a good person,” Ada said.

The flag placement began in Seneca Valley two years ago, Keebler said, and has grown not only in scale of the exhibit, but in the number of cadets who participate. This year, 45 students were involved, with more than 100 students in the program, he said.

The middle school class that started the flag placement is the district’s largest JROTC class, he said, at 26 students.

Keebler said middle school students come to school with a refreshingly positive vibe, reflected in the group’s approach to the flag planting. Cadets were excited to turn up with a plan that they worked on themselves, he added.

“There’s a lot of energy,” Keebler said.

“Whenever I was in seventh grade, I would watch the other cadets in eighth grade, and I would want to be like that,” Ada said. “Personally, I was very excited to do this, and I think that the other cadets were very excited too.”

Seneca Valley JROTC cadet Ada Smith, left, from Ryan Gloyer Middle School places American flags around the Seneca Valley secondary campus in remembrance of 9/11, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle

Matthew Brown

Seneca Valley JROTC cadets from Ryan Gloyer Middle School place American flags around the Seneca Valley secondary campus in remembrance of 9/11, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle

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Seneca Valley JROTC cadet Dylan Kellar from Ryan Gloyer Middle School passes out American flags to fellow JROTC members to place around the Seneca Valley secondary campus in remembrance of 9/11, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle

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Seneca Valley JROTC cadet Griffin Vukich from Ryan Gloyer Middle School places an American flag at the Seneca Valley secondary campus in remembrance of 9/11, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle

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Seneca Valley JROTC cadet Alex Repp, left, from Ryan Gloyer Middle School place American flags around the Seneca Valley secondary campus in remembrance of 9/11, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle

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Seneca Valley JROTC cadet Alex Repp from Ryan Gloyer Middle School places American flags around the Seneca Valley secondary campus in remembrance of 9/11, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle

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Seneca Valley JROTC cadets Col Colyer, left, and Hyunseo Choi from Ryan Gloyer Middle School place American flags around the Seneca Valley secondary campus in remembrance of 9/11 Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle

Matthew Brown