Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Jeri Ferguson, far left, helps her students address care packages for Jessica and Michael Goodell. From left, Ferguson, Nicholas Thomas-Lewis, Alex Reader, Paycen Harroun and Lila Moore send the packages from the Kimball Post Office.
"This was all the kids idea" said Jeri Ferguson, the KHS Civics teacher said.
After the Veteran's Day Program that the Civics class put on for our communities local Veterans, the Senior Civics class knew they had to do something special for the verterans and current servicemen and women. "We brainstormed and discussed some ideas before settling on care packages," said senior Nicholas Thomas-Lewis. "We wanted to send packages to the soldiers so they had gifts for the holidays too," Alex Reader added.
The next step in this wonderful plan was to figure out where to send the packages and what things to send. After some discussion, the students decided to send the packages to a Kimball High School alum, Michael Goodell (pictured below with his family). "Staff Sargent Michael Goodell, graduated from Kimball High School in 2007, his wife Jessica (Burrell) Goodell graduted in 2005. The couple has a son, Preston, who just recently turned five, Jessica also told me that this is his deployment, Michael has volunteered to go on flood relief with his unit in the past so this is not the first time from home but first time overseas," said Ferguson.
"Being close to Christmas we all decided that since we have an old Kimball student going over seas to Iraq we should send them some care packages. Most soldiers don't get the chance to come home for the holidays. This will be a great little Christmas gift to them," said senior Megan Browning.
The students ended up having a contest between grades to see which one could donate the most.
The students spoke with veterans and present service members to see what would be the best items to send, what the soldiers would appreciate the most, and what would help them feel more at home.
"21 boxes filled with snacks, blankets, books, art projects, cards, movies, board games, a thank you banner, and much more," Thomas-Lewis added.
So heartfelt of the students to want to make such a meaningful impact on other peoples' life. "I, myself, joined the Marines and I thought to myself, if I was overseas missing home and my family how much I would love that my old school keeps me in their thoughts," said senior Weston Walker.
"This project was a lot of fun to do, and I hope that these packages make a positive difference in at least one person's life. To make even one person smile would make this project more than worth it." added Thomas-Lewis.