Mrs. Tate created the Goochland Veterans Project (GVP) to give her dual enrollment 11th grade U.S. History students at Goochland High School a co-curricular opportunity to recognize local veterans for their service and be more involved in their community.

The GVP is modeled after the Poquoson Veterans Project Mrs. Tate helped her mom, Becky Morrison, start and run at her previous school (Poquoson High School). Mrs. Tate's students will be paired with a local veteran volunteer to "adopt" for the entire school year. The students record their veterans’ military history and write a biography of their veteran's military service through conducting interviews at an initial luncheon. Veterans are also asked to participate in various events throughout the year with their students, such as the coin toss at football games, first pitch at baseball games, Goochland Day parade, Wreaths Across America, etc. In the spring, veterans and students also take a field trip to Washington, D.C. to the memorials to the wars in which their veterans served and then spend the rest of the day at the Museum of American History together.

Our GHS marketing students will be assisting with the project's social media, logos, and advertising. Our culinary arts students will be cooking the luncheon(s). Our MJROTC students, football team, and band will also be assisting in honoring our veterans at football games, during the national anthem and coin toss. Additionally, an ROTC student will be assisting, as his senior project, as well as, another student who will be coordinating the GVP in the Goochland Day parade for his senior project.

Poquoson's project has received national attention, won the National Community Service Award from the Friends of the WWII Memorial, and received speakers as part of a Department of Defense grant. Their project has also received grants from Dominion Energy and Newport News Shipbuilding. Some of our students and veterans, who were paired in the first year of the Poquoson project in 2017, have maintained close friendships since. Please check out PHS's project site, with the professional video detailing the project, shot by the Friends of the World War II Memorial, for a more in-depth explanation about what a veterans project is. This project has helped our students develop their skills of leadership and civic engagement that extend far beyond the conclusion of the project.