Byrd Students Send Troops Some Holiday Thanks
Recently, CCSD59 Teacher Jessica Goczkowski and her class at Admiral Byrd asked for support from the CCSD59 community.
As explained previously in a story on the district website, Mrs. Goczkowski’s class wanted to help a local radio station, US99.5, collect 10,000 letters to send to men and women currently serving the Armed Forces. These troops will remain stationed through the holidays and will therefore not be able to be home with their families.
Mrs. Goczkowski contacted the radio station to let them know about CCSD59’s participation. She said that she felt it was a great way to show her students how to put altruism into action, and how to “pay it forward” to those who are making a sacrifice for others everyday.
It’s no surprise that the CCSD59 community rose to the challenge; but how far they rose was simply amazing. The Admiral Byrd classroom received, looked over, stuffed and sealed 3,723 letters, over 37% of the total original goal set by the radio station.
“The artwork was beautiful and some of the cards/letters were written so beautifully that they moved us deeply,” said Mrs.Goczkowski in an email to the district. She said she was truly astonished by the overwhelming support provided by the district as a whole and by the students in particular.
Her class beamed with pride when US99.5 radio station host “Ramblin’ Ray” personally came to pick up the many boxes of letters for the troops, decorated in red, white, and blue stars. He enthusiastically praised the classroom, the teachers, the staff, and the district for their hard work and dedication to the cause, saying, “I think this is the greatest amount of letters we’ve received from anywhere yet!” as the students cheered.
Ramblin’ Ray took multiple photos with the classroom, posted a video on his Facebook page, and offered to send personalized photos to the class. He joked that he had no idea how he was going to fit them all in his car as the students began thinking of ways to help. In a touching tribute, he allowed several students to read a letter to the troops. He recorded several of them, and played one of the recordings on US99’s Monday morning broadcasts on November 16.
“We always can count on Lisa and Ray listeners to come through,” said Ramblin’ Ray about CCSD59’s efforts. “Coordinating the effort was easy, our listeners did the work, and now, in places most of us don’t want to be this holiday season, our troops will have over 30,000 greetings from Chicago. How cool is that?”
“This project taught our third graders that they can make a difference, show kindness towards others, and work together to achieve a goal,” said Mary Ellen Esser, Principal at Admiral Byrd. “We are so proud of their efforts and of our entire district.”
Hopefully, the troops will feel the great enthusiasm, excitement, gratitude, and happiness that the CCSD59 community put into every envelope along with their letters.