Wareham Middle School students wanted to do something special to mark this year's Veterans Day since the day was 11-11-11 this year.

So, Student Council President Serena Iacovelli explained, they decided to collect all the names of veterans related to the school -- faculty, staff and relatives of students -- and put them on display in the lobby. Middle school teacher Bonnie Lasorsa said that,  to her knowledge, a memorial of that nature had never been done before.

In conjunction with the memorial, the middle school also hosted a food drive, titled "They Gave So We Give," to benefit Damien's Food Pantry. The school does an annual drive geared toward Thanksgiving, but decided to organize it in conjunction with Veterans Day this year. The goal was to collect 1,111 food items.

The students didn't hit that number, collecting a little over 311 food items, but Iacovelli said she's still pleased with the results.

Student Council Vice-President Joe Nash agreed. "It's better than nothing," he said.

Nash said collecting the veterans' names - more than 250 of them - did not take very long, but the planning process took a long time.

Charles VanderStaay, grandfather of Student Council social director Robert Giannelli, was on hand Tuesday, Nov. 15, to see the results of the middle school students' work. VanderStaay served in the Air Force during the Korean and Vietnam wars. He currently serves as chairman of children and youth in the Wareham branch of the American Legion.

VanderStaay said the food drive was a good idea, and he was pleased with the memorial. He said he remembers a time when he stopped wearing his uniform because of the negative attitudes people showed toward him as a veteran.

Teacher Wendy Brogioli was also pleased by the students' cause because it gave the educators a teaching opportunity.

"It opened up a great classroom discussion," she said.

The middle school will continue to accept donations for the food drive throughout this week.