PEN PALSCynthia Wong was not your average student teacher. This married mother of two and weekend college student at Hiram college is also a veteran of the Persian Gulf who flew medical evacuation helicopters in Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield and is currently a Colonel in the Air Force Reserves. Like the military, teaching middle school prepares you to expect the unexpected. Fortunately, while teaching in Mrs. Tammy Anfang’s 7th grade language arts classes, Mrs. Wong experienced more of the positive “unexpected” aspects of middle school students.
With the holidays approaching, Mrs. Wong encouraged the students to write letters to military members, gave them instructions and materials, and took the letters to send herself so they were certain to be delivered. “I told the students about how important it is to write our service members because they feel so disconnected from the real world at home.” She explained that it helps morale even if it is from someone that they do not know. “I still have letters that were sent to me from strangers, and they are some of my best memories of the war because I knew someone cared about the sacrifices I was making to be away from my family.”
Chad Randall really enjoyed writing his letters to the American soldiers stationed overseas. “Chad gave me over thirty letters that he had handwritten with art work,” Mrs. Wong explained.
“I didn’t expect to get stuff back. That’s not why I wrote them,” Chad added. However, Chad received letters from two servicemen and an American flag that flew over Sather Air Base, Iraq on December 19, 2008, in his honor. With its triangular case, the flag also came with a certificate of authenticity.
Chad looks forward to receiving more letters and is also e-mailing with a third soldier almost every day. Mrs. Wong commented that sometimes airmen and soldiers don’t have access to e-mail every day but “A letter is something that can be read over and over,” and she was “impressed that young people cared.”