Every year we receive some great pictures from Heather Jefkins a teacher at Charles C. McLean Public School, if there is a teacher in Canada that does more to spread awareness and support of our troops we have not met her yet, thank you Heather for doing this!
“Please find attached two photos taken at our annual Red Friday event at Charles C. McLean P.S. This is our 11th annual Red Friday Assembly, held in support of our “Op Troop Support” and “Op Flat Stanley” programs. The students are holding letters to spell out “Peace On Earth”, as they know that if there WERE peace on earth, all members of the Canadian Forces would be able to be home with their own families over the holidays.
My Grade 4/5 class participates in a program I call “Op Flat Stanley. My students are currently partnered with 29 active Canadian Armed Forces Members from bases across Canada. Currently we have 20 members serving in Canada, and another 9 deployed at various locations across the globe. Each of these CAF Members becomes what I call a “Flat Stanley Handler” for the year, and volunteers to exchange penpal letters and photos with their student partner from my class. My students create Flat Stanleys dressed in CADPAT, which are then laminated and “deployed” to bases across the country. My students learn Reading and Writing skills through this program, and also a tremendous amount of History and Geography. They are exposed to a variety of career paths, as well as the challenges and opportunities a life in the military provides for CAF Members and their families.
In addition, we also support 10 to 12 deployed CAF members each year through our class’s “Op Troop Support”. We collect and pack “goodies”, shipping each deployed member a box of treats that provide a “taste of home” for them if they are deployed over the Christmas Season. Our entire school and community gets behind this initiative, and we have had to move from “shoeboxes” to “copier paper boxes” to accommodate all the donations of treats like cookies, Tim Horton’s Coffee, and maple syrup!
Beyond the obvious academic subjects covered in these two programs, my students learn about respect and citizenship, and how lucky they are to live in Canada. The CAF Members who agree to participate in this program help me teach so many lessons. Each of them will receive copies of these photos, to remind them we are thinking about them every day.
My class and I would be honoured to have these photos featured on your website and/or social media accounts, should you choose to use them. I believe these help show how student-CAF partnerships can help develop respect and understanding for the people who represent Canada across the country and around the world. My “Stanley Handlers” are amazing, and I wear red EVERY Friday to show my respect for the job they do.
Respectfully yours,
Heather Jefkins
Grade 4 / 5 Teacher
C.C. McLean P.S.
