[ start audio track (above), then begin ceremony script below) ]

Gooooooooood day, USA! - especially to you hard-charging student-citizens out there learning at home or school.
​This is Sean Sweeney, Founder of the Flag Steward nonprofit project, leading today's 'Be a STUD Citizen' moment.  The 'Be a STUD Citizen' moment is a motivational Pre-Pledge ceremony meant to provide us all with a moment to honor our past, reflect on the present, and unite as STUD citizens (Super Thoughful, Ultra Dependable citizens) working to continually improve America.
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Welcome to Flag Steward's
Be a STUD Citizen Moment
for Monday, September 7, 2020​

We begin by honoring special citizens who have served our country and communities and have recently passed away.  We pay tribute to them by lowering Our Flag, the U.S. Flag, to half-staff.  The Half-Staff Flag Map below and linked Half-Staff Alerts page show where and for whom half-staff honors are being performed.
So, make sure the Flags at your school, business, home, or public facility are at the correct position.
... for September 7, 2020 ...

[ CLICK HERE to see Half-Staff alert details, including pics, of Honorees ]

Next, we learn from our past with a story from Our Flag.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, "Labor Day is a national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country."  Seen in the picture above, the first Labor Day celebration was a parade held on September 5, 1882, to showcase a variety of labor organizations in New York City (NYC).  With the success and growth of the parade, labor leaders began pursuing a national holiday to celebrate America's workers.  In 1894, Congress passed and President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September a national holiday called Labor Day.  
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On this pandemic-affected Labor Day, we should show our love and appreciation for all the essential workers who "labor" to treat the sick, protect us, feed us, teach us, and so much more.  So, go make a 'Thank You' sign and post it outside your school, hospital, police station, or fire house and share it on social media. 

And, now, students at homes or schools across America, it's time to come together, to unite as student citizens, who recite the Pledge of Allegiance and work together to fulfill its promises each day.

Thanks for participating in today's ceremony.
This is Sean Sweeney, a fellow Flag Steward, signing-off:

Go out and 'Be a STUD Citizen'
Keep America Beautiful - inside and out
And, remember to go thank our essential workers

​In God We Trust
(Official motto of the United States of America)
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​Flag Steward (formerly known as Beacon of Honor and originally incorporated as GivingVu.org, Inc. in 2013) is a nonpartisan, student-inspired, Veteran-led 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit organization based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.  Tax ID# 46-2457373