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Students thank Canadian peacekeeper

A group of Millarville students hope to bring a smile to a Canadian peacekeeper serving overseas. A family friend of MD Coun. Jason Parker is currently on a secure mission with the Canadian peace corps.
MD of Foothills Division 3 Councillor Jason Parker with Grade 1 students at Millarville School on April 13.
MD of Foothills Division 3 Councillor Jason Parker with Grade 1 students at Millarville School on April 13.

A group of Millarville students hope to bring a smile to a Canadian peacekeeper serving overseas.

A family friend of MD Coun. Jason Parker is currently on a secure mission with the Canadian peace corps. Due to the sensitive nature of his operation, he must remain anonymous.

When Parker’s wife found out her close childhood friend was serving in the Canadian army, she inspired their daughter, Shelby, to write a letter to thank him for his sacrifice.

“We just thought it would be something that would be nice to do,” said Parker. “We knew it would mean a lot to him.”

The original ideas was to have Shelby write a letter alone, but the Grade 1 student had other ideas. She wanted to get her friends involved, so Parker and his wife spoke with the school and arranged for the class to take on letter writing as a special project.

“Before I knew it, we came home and we had a stack of these amazing pictures and letters,” said Parker.

The next step was to make a short video of the entire class holding their notes and illustrations while saying thank you to the Canadian soldier.

Shelby said she thought he’d be happy to hear from her and all of her classmates. Her letter thanked him for being on a peacekeeping mission, and included a picture of a wildcat.

“I drew him a wildcat, because our school is the Wildcats, and I’m a Wildcat,” said Shelby. “I think he’ll be happy.”

Classmate Willow Havenfield said her letter thanked the soldier for keeping peace, and she drew a picture of a peace sign and a smiley face to illustrate her words.

“I’m proud that he keeps peace,” said Havenfield.

Brayden Raugust said it’s important to send messages to all the soldiers and thank them for their service.

“I think he’ll be happy to see the letters,” said Raugust. “I’m glad we made them. It was fun.”

Teacher Linda Orme said her students loved the project.

“They don’t know who it is, but they thought it sounded cool that somebody was doing this work, and we don’t know a lot about what he’s doing, but he’s working to help them,” said Orme. “They’re just grateful to people who take care of them.”

She said the project ties in well with the values of the Millarville Community School, which runs an international baccalaureate (IB) program and focuses on the importance of appreciation. It’s something the children were encouraged to show by writing the letters, said Orme.

Another aspect of the IB program is being caring individuals. By writing the letters the students were exhibiting their caring nature, and also learning about how Canadian soldiers care for us and their country, she said.

“This was one way we could acknowledge somebody else showing those attributes and showing our appreciation for them,” said Orme. “We look at this as a program that involves academics and the Alberta curriculum, but we’re also teaching the attitudes and attributes. We’re looking at how to make someone a great citizen, and this spoke to that.”

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