Stryker Brigade News

The students love to hear stories about their teacher’s travels, especially about her summers in Alaska. When the opportunity came to write to deployed Soldiers from Alaska, Brock decided this was a perfect project for her students.

Holley Brashear, family readiness group leader for the BSB, helped facilitate the project by providing the names of Soldiers who agreed to write back to the students.

With the names in hand, Brock assigned each student to a Soldier and they started writing letters.

Longview Elementary students face many challenges in their daily life. More than 90 percent of the students are on free or reduced lunch and 37 percent are learning English as a second language.

“Many of my students struggle in the area of writing. One of the reasons that I wanted them to have pen pals to write to is to give them a reason for writing,” Brock explained.

“My students are now excited to write when it is writing letters to our Soldiers. They even write extra letters on their own at home,” she said. “They know that their letters will make their Soldier happy.”

Brock said the day a letter arrives from a Soldier it is all the students can talk about. It is hard for them to concentrate at school because they are so excited.

“The students feel special. The letters are addressed to them, and they cherish every word,” she said.

The BSB Soldiers have not only written letters but included small gifts as well such as Iraqi money, stamps, voting ballot instruction, postcards and pictures.

One Soldier even sent a birthday present to a student.

“This project has opened so many doors to teaching geography, how to address an envelope, and even how the post office works,” Brock said. “My students have planners, and in their planner they have drawn a dot in North Carolina and in Alaska. They also have drawn a dot on the United States and in Iraq for them to remember where their Soldier is.

“Every day this project brings about something unexpected, but it is always amazing,” Brock said.

Even more amazing to Brock is a letter she received from one of the Soldiers addressed to her.

Spc. Matthew Flemister, a cook with the BSB, wrote, “Your students have written me twice now. Please just tell me where to sign and you will have my vote to be teacher of the year. I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed receiving letters from your kids.

“Getting mail over here so far from family and loved ones is always a blessing,” he wrote. “I can’t thank you enough for the expression of love and support. Thank you for instilling your students with a sense of pride on the military. I pray that it is a lesson that will stay with them long after they leave your classroom.

“I have a 10-month-old son. I pray that he will have a teacher like you when he is in 3rd grade.”

The class recently made Christmas ornaments for the Soldiers.