Guard children find community support
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Vermont National Guardsmen, some of whom will be going to Afghanistan, talk with students at the Cavendish Elementary School on Tuesday. Vyto Starinskas / Rutland Herald |
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By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: October 28, 2009
PROCTORSVILLE — Nine-year-old Skylar Dailey is one of many children who have a family member in the Vermont National Guard headed to Afghanistan.
"He had to go to Iraq last year and he came back, but I'm a little nervous," Dailey said of her uncle, who is one of about 1,500 troops who will soon be deployed. The fourth-grader is also one of about 30 pupils at Cavendish Town Elementary School who was honored Tuesday morning for her efforts in raising more than $1,500 to buy calling cards to give to the troops so they can call home.
In June, Dailey — along with pupils in grades three through five — held an Ed-U-Thon: an all-night 12-hour session of educational activities. Pupils raised money by collecting pledges, but it wasn't all work, Dailey said.
"It was fun," she said. "We used computers, we played games and we read."
The school has a long history using educational activities to raise money, said Principal George Thomson.
"We used to do an all-night read-a-thon when we were raising money for the library," Thomson said. "But then the library was paid off, so it kind of fizzled out."
The fundraising torch was picked up by fourth-grade teacher Jennifer Harper, who decided to raise money for the National Guard after receiving a letter from Secretary of State Deborah L. Markowitz detailing a new project called "Service-for-Service."
"I thought that we could take the same theme of staying up all night, but use the money for beyond our immediate community," said Harper.
Markowitz, along with six members of the Vermont National Guard, came to Cavendish to launch the Service-for-Service project Tuesday.
"I hope this kick-off event will help other teachers and other students in other schools to think about the importance of service," Markowitz said shortly before a representative with the Vermont National Guard Charitable Foundation accepted a check from the school.
Markowitz said there are many opportunities for children to participate, and noted that while Cavendish pupils raised money for phone cards, pupils at Benson Village School have embarked on a project to make phone card holders.
"It's tough to have your parents away, but it's easier when you have people around you who care about you," she said.
Capt. Chris Day, commander of Alpha Company and part of the 88th Brigade that is going to Afghanistan, echoed the importance of support at home.
"It will be stressful for her with me not being around," said the Brattleboro resident of his third-grade daughter, "and it will be stressful for my wife with me not being around, but it will be my daughter's classmates who will help her through this and it will be the Brattleboro community that will help them while I'm away."
For more information about the Service-for-Service program, visit www.sec.state.vt.us/kids/service for service.html.
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com