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Student-Athletes Write Letters to U.S. Soldiers
(Bloomfield, CT) In February, student-athletes at CREC’s Metropolitan Learning Center for Global and International Studies spent an afternoon writing letters to U.S. soldiers.
Each sports season, the school’s middle and high school student-athletes complete a community service project. Writing letters to soldiers stationed on the USS Kearsarge in the Gulf of Aqaba was the project selected for this winter. The initiative was suggested by Zanagee Artis, a sophomore boys basketball player from Clinton, and a teacher at the school knows soldiers stationed on the U.S. Navy assault ship.
“I was inspired to mail letters to show appreciation to service members who are spending time away from their families to protect us,” Zanagee said. “Many kids don’t know what it is like to be away from your families for so long, and I think it was important to teach the students about the commitment and sacrifice these men and women give for our safety and freedom.”
On the day the letters were written, each winter sports team was represented, and the students were encouraged to personalize their letters and ask the soldiers questions. A few students also presented military-related projects. For example, Emily Godeck, a sophomore girls basketball player from Broadbrook, shared her International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme personal project about the military. Christopher Rivera, a senior boys basketball player from Windsor, presented his project titled, “The Emotional Effect on Kids with Military Deployed Parents.”
The letters to the soldiers have been mailed, and the school hopes to receive responses by the end of the school year.
