Sending Sweet Sentiments To Soldiers

By Laurie Borst

For the second year, Sandy Hook Elementary School students have sent Valentine’s Day letters to military personnel serving overseas.

The idea first emerged last year when second grade teacher Carol MacInnes was looking for a writing project for her students. The program expanded this year. Vice Principal Cathy Mazzariello suggested the entire school should be invited to participate.

Parent volunteer Donna Randle’s son was in Mrs MacInnes’s class last year. When Mrs Randle heard about the project, she jumped right in helping to coordinate. She was more than willing to coordinate again this year.

In all, 14 classes, including kindergarten, participated. A total of 280 students wrote letters. Many students wrote more than one letter. Many service people will receive two or three letters each.

Sandy Hook School uses a “Buddy Program” in its Language Arts. This program teams up first and third graders, and second and fourth graders. The older students work with the younger ones to help with writing and editing.

Sixteen packages were sent to Newtown residents. The Sandy Hook PTA provided school shirts with the mascot Sam, the Eagle, on them for those packages. All letters and packages included valentine stickers and confetti.

The school received the names of 203 servicemen and six servicewomen deployed overseas. Not only names and addresses were provided, but families also supplied information on hobbies and favorite sports teams for each soldier. Students were able to personalize the letters with this information.

Six packages of additional letters were prepared to be distributed to marines and soldiers in units known to Newtown residents Colonel Will Rodgers and First Sergeant Arthur Fredericks, whom they described as “younger men who are in need of a hug from home.”

Some letters were written by a Brownie Troop that meets at Sandy Hook School.

Included in each letter or package was a note that stated, “This letter was written by a student at Sandy Hook Elementary School. We hope this letter brings ‘cheer from home.’ We thank you for your service to our country! Happy St Valentine’s Day.”

The note also included the school’s address and email addresses specific for each teacher. It is hoped that some of the soldiers will respond to the students.

Several classes, including Natalie Hammond’s third graders, stuffed envelopes, affixed preprinted labels, stamped return addresses, and helped apply postage and customs stamps.

In all, more than 260 letters and packages were sent. Letters went to 148 Army soldiers, 57 Marines, two Navy sailors, and two Airmen.

Parents of the students donated postage stamps. Some anonymous donors at the post office opened their own wallets to cover stamps needed.

On February 1, two mail trucks, two letter carriers, Lisa Cox and Jeanie Cyr, and Officer-in-Charge Rich Crowther arrived at the school for pickup. Letters were all prepared with stamps and custom forms when the trucks arrived.

Three classes were on hand to deliver the letters to the carriers. Carol MacInnes’s second grade, and Buddy Program classes, Robin Walker’s second grade and Courtney Martin’s fourth grader, were the students who dropped the letters into postal boxes.

“You all did a great job,” exclaimed Mr Crowther. “There’s so many letter here!”

“The post office was an integral part of the program’s success,” said Mrs Randle. “They would ask people mailing things to soldiers if they knew about the school’s project.”

Mrs Randle hopes that Newtown’s service people will visit when they return home. She stated that they plan to invite all Newtown military personnel to the Veterans’ Day Breakfast held in November, plans for which are all ready beginning.

Mrs Randle has a special connection to the Valentines for Soldiers project. She served in the Army Reserve on active duty for five years and in the Reserves for three years, from late 1978 into 1987.

During that time, Mrs Randle spent a year in Korea. Back in those days, email did not yet exist! Hard to believe, huh, kids? The telephone was expensive, and connections to the states, unreliable. While she was overseas, her 18-year-old sister wrote to her twice a week without fail for the entire year.

A mentor from her early adulthood introduced her to the concept of “pass it on.” Long before Pay It Forward hit the movie theaters, Mrs Randle learned that lesson. For her sister’s dedicated letter writing and her mentor’s support, she has practiced that philosophy. It is a beautiful philosophy everyone can embrace.