During Friday morning assembly, DCD remembered our veterans with a special guest and close friend to Head of School Allison Webster, Lieutenant Tamara Kett, who spoke about her career in the US Navy. In addition to this special presentation, DCD’s Director of DEI, Ms. Alphonse-Crean introduced members of our middle school Social Justice Club, a dialogue group made up of students who want to make positive change in our community and the greater world. Student members took turns reading letters they’d written to the future US President, addressing topics they care greatly about, from animal testing and animal abuse, to gun violence and inflation, in hopes that these issues might be addressed during the future President’s time in office.
Following the Social Justice Club student presentation, Head of School Allison Webster spoke about how much she appreciated this group of students that shared their thoughts, emphasizing, “now is the time to think about your values and what you care about as individuals, and decide to get together with the people around you to make things better!” She then introduced Lieutenant Tamara Kett. Ms. Kett began by asking students if they knew all of the branches of our armed services, in which students eagerly chimed in, and she then briefly introduced the six United States Armed Forces: the Army, Navy, Airforce, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard. Ms. Kett went on to share that she spent seven years in the Navy, starting in The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, known as ROTC, at Duke University, where she became an officer.
Ms. Kett shared that during her service, she was able to travel to many different locations around the world. She was first deployed to McMurdo Station in Antarctica, where she provided support to scientists doing research on the continent, and was able to see penguins, seals and whales! After her time in Antarctica, she was stationed in La Maddalena, a town located on the islands of the Maddalena Archipelago, in Sardinia, Italy, where she worked in the Naval Support Office, supporting a submarine tender and the people who worked on the tender in port. She explained that tenders “tend to” submarines, and these tenders were specially equipped to repair the submarines stationed in the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf. She then exclaimed, “One of the best things about my time in Italy was being able to learn how to speak Italian!” Ms. Kett was then sent to the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, as a Current Events Intelligence Officer, where she analyzed confidential information regarding overnight developments around the world, emphasizing, “I tracked pirates near Yemen, and commercial ships trying to smuggle weapons into war zones!” Lastly, Ms. Kett shared, “after a very exciting career in the Navy, I went on to Business School!”
Students then had the opportunity to ask Ms. Kett questions about her time in the Navy:
Did you ever serve in combat?
When I was in service, women were not allowed to serve in combat.
What was your favorite place that you traveled to?
I loved Antarctica because it was so different, but it was also very isolating. I had to schedule a call three weeks in advance to speak to my family!
What are the purple stars on the map you shared with us?
On my way to Antartica, I flew into Hawaii, then on to New Zealand, and then to Antarctica. However, I took a Coast Guard ship home, and was able to go to Australia!
In wrapping up this special assembly, Ms. Webster shared her thoughts on Veterans’ Day, with this message: “Think about how you want to serve the world, as that service is so important! And on Monday, Veterans’ Day, find someone who serves or has served, and thank them for their service!”
Thank you, Ms. Kett for coming to DCD to share your experience in the Navy, we are so grateful for your service! And thank you to our middle school student Social Justice Club members: Emmy Hooker, Simi LaMontagne, and Anna Vinton, (Grade 7), and Jack Hawkom and Avery Wright (Grade 8), for your hard work and desire to make a difference! DCD inspires students to become caring, ethical members of the larger world by emphasizing thoughtful citizenship, and we are very proud of our Social Justice Club members at DCD!
