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Elmendorf children lend a helping hand

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AFNS) --  About 25 children from Aurora Elementary School's Student Council and Service Learning Club held a school supply drive collecting 8,600 pounds of materials for school children in the Afghanistan.

The school supplies were sent to Camp Penich, Afghanistan where they will be delivered to 13 different schools in Konar River Valley, Afghanistan.

The drive was inspired by a letter written by Army 1st Lt. Zachary Miller to his mother Mrs. Lee Miller, a teacher and a student council advisor at Aurora Elementary School at Elemendorf Air Force Base, Alaska..

After seeing the learning environment in the Konar River Valley, Lieutenant Miller wrote a letter to his mother asking for her to assist the children there.

Open-air classrooms and problem solving in the dirt instead of on chalkboards is how Lieutenant Miller explained the learning environment in a letter to his mother.

The Afghan children go to school in these conditions six times a week for four hours a day. The children at Aurora thought it would be a good idea to pitch in and provide whatever help they could.

Mrs. Miller said this has been a tremendous learning experience for the children.

Maps of Afghanistan and the world align the hallways of the elementary school giving the children an idea of where their supplies will be heading.

"It's learning without even knowing they're learning," Mrs. Miller said.

She said the children have been excited about promoting and getting the word out there.

"I think this was a success because the kids were engaged in trying to help somebody," said Jennifer Simpson, a fourth grade teacher and cosponsor of the Service Learning Club. "They're learning a life-long ethic of giving; that's a success right there. It's the beginning of a (positive) attitude we hope to instill in them."

The children were excited to donate their time to box up the supplies.

"I like knowing we're helping people less fortunate than we are with school supplies," said Ben Schutt, a sixth-grade student and member of the student council.

Nicholas Kolasch, a 3rd grade student and member of the student council, said he liked helping the children in Afghanistan because they don't have enough school supplies.

Along with the supplies, the children sent letters of friendship and drawings of their favorite things in an effort to put a smile on the faces of the children in the Konar River Valley.

Mrs. Miller and Ms. Simpson said the message they wanted to get across to their students is that these are children just like them and a little bit of help can go a long way.