Students find meaning and empathy in school project
By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
When East Troy High School junior English teachers Laurie Crandall and Ann Phillips introduced the theme for a recent writing project to their kids, they weren’t sure what to expect.
“We didn’t know if they’d be interested or bored or care at all,” Crandall said.
The project, which focused on honor, featured the Honor Flight.
“I thought it would be interesting to view the Honor Flight documentary,” Phillips said. “We didn’t know what their response would be. You put a bunch of 80-year-old vets in front of a 17-year-old teenager and you don’t know what you’re going to get.”
Boredom, however, was the last thing from the students’ minds.
“They were hugely interested,” Crandall said. “There were tears. They were crying, I was crying.”
“The emotional response is what Laurie and I were amazed at,” Phillips added. “Kids were breaking down to the point they were asking how they could get involved.”
The lesson the teachers came up with included the documentary, discussion and a writing element.
“Each weekly lesson usually involved a reflective writing piece at the end,” Phillips said.
“Usually it’s something they reflect on and how it relates to them in their own world,” Crandall added.
This time around, however, the students were given the option of using that part of a lesson to write a letter for a veteran on the Honor Flight in part of the General Mail Call.
“It’s for vets who might not have family like the others do who write the letters for the mail on the flight,” Phillips said.
The students embraced the assignment and it became a way for almost the entire junior class to bond.
“Except for about 30 of our juniors, every junior is exposed to this class,” Phillips said. “So, they all could talk about it. We have about 100 kids affected by this in the school.”
Some of the students chose to write their letters to friends or family members who have served in the armed forces, which will be delivered when the lesson is over.
Crandall said the kids told her being able to be a part of the Honor Flight made them feel connected with the veterans and the world at large that they don’t always get in the classroom.
“They felt relevant,” she said. “Some of these kids are looking forward to turning 18 so they can be chaperones on future Honor Flights.”
Phillips said watching the week unfold, she and Crandall were so impressed with their students and the empathy shown, they couldn’t stop talking about it to others.
“They were able to empathize with these vets and talked about how it would feel to go off to war at 17 or 18. It kind of hit home quite a bit for them,” Phillips said.
Crandall said even the kids who chose to write a reflective piece instead of an actual letter to a vet took the assignment far more seriously than they had to other assignments.
“More so than any other week,” she said.
Phillips said the lesson also struck a note with the kids on a different level.
“Just talking about what honor is, with the whole national anthem thing going on and what’s happening in the country now was eye opening,” she said. “They got a chance to look at what honor is today as opposed to what it used to look like when people were very patriotic.”
Crandall and Phillips said the week-long lesson was emotionally draining at points, but one of the most fulfilling times they’ve experienced as teachers because they really felt like they had connected with their students and were able to take things to the next level with them.
The kids inspired them to get more involved as well, and both of them are looking forward to chaperoning on future Honor Flights when their turn on the waiting lists come up.
About the Honor Flight
The Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created to honor America’s veterans. It transports veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans – World War II survivors, along with those other veterans who may be terminally ill.
For more information, visit www.honorflight.org.
