Students collect school supplies to help soldier

As a way of thanking a U.S. Marine for his commitment to his country, students in Laura DeAngelis’ home room class made a commitment to him.

Earlier this month, they learned that Gunnery Sergeant John Kratz, a Marine they had corresponded with, needed help on his mission. He asked for school supplies to help children in villages in Afghanistan.

“The kids got really excited about helping,” DeAngelis, a teacher at Center Middle School, 326 E. 103rd St., said. “They started saying, ‘I have extra school supplies’ and ‘I can send school supplies.’”

The class of 10 students began to organize a project together. They paired up and wrote speeches to ask students in other classrooms to donate school supplies to students in Afghanistan. Days later, they had collected five boxes of items to ship overseas.

Seventh-grader Melissa Bruce said it was not hard to get a response from students at the school. The boxes were quickly filled with scissors, notebooks, binders, crayons and markers.

“They were excited to help,” Melissa said.

DeAngelis said all of her students found a way to contribute. Some helped by writing thank-you letters to put in a box, some helped pack the boxes and others went to classrooms to collect the items, she said.

The project served as a lesson throughout the school, giving teachers a chance to explain some of the good things that are happening in Afghanistan, DeAngelis said.

“It made me more aware,” seventh-grader Katherine Craven said. “I know they are having troubles. I think (the students in Afghanistan) will be very happy and I hope they will have a better education. I hope this helps them.”

Most everyone in found a way to give something, DeAngelis said.

This year, students at Center Middle School have participated in a character education program during homeroom. Writing thank-you letters to a soldier was a suggestion made to teachers in the program’s book as students learned about the virtue “commitment.”

DeAngelis said she connected with the Marine by seeing his information on a Web site that allows soldiers to make requests for items they need. The site connects soldiers with willing donors, like DeAngelis’ class.

His suggestion was unique in that it was not personal but dealt with his work, she said.

“It was not a whole lot of anything he asked for, but his commitment went beyond ‘we need soap and shampoo,’” DeAngelis said. “It reached me and it reached my students.”

Later this year, students will study the character virtues leadership, perseverance, teamwork, respect, integrity, responsibility, self-control and compassion through program materials, Principal Linda Williams said.

“It is always exciting to see that the students have taken the character trait seriously and want to put their beliefs in action as they did in this effort to provide school supplies for our military to supply to the children in Afghanistan,” Williams said in an e-mail.

At the first moment students showed enthusiasm, DeAngelis thought “this is why I teach,” she said.

“That’s what gets you excited every day, to see students take ownership,” DeAngelis said. “You know they are capable of so much and it was good to see them put that to use. I think they learned more about commitment doing this than finishing the whole book.”

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