Steadley Elementary adopts a school half a world away
A rather unique adoption is taking place inside Steadley Elementary School.
One of Carthage’s newest schools has taken under its wing a fellow elementary facility located in one of the oldest regions in the world — Ur, Iraq. The Sonoobar Elementary School sits near the Tallil Airbase in Iraq.
Over the course of this week, Steadley students will reach out to students halfway around the world, gathering for their Iraqi counterparts the types of things most folks here in the States take for granted. Collected items range from shoes and sandals to pencils and paper. All of these items, plus toys and Band-Aids and even eyeglasses, are being gathered inside cardboard boxes located in front of the school’s main office.
Sergeant (E5) Christy Bukowski, of the Kansas National Guard, recently wrote to the Steadley student, as a part of this exchange program. Soldiers like Bukowski have been handing out the goodies shipped from the States to adults and children in Iraq. While describing to the Steadley students what she does in Iraq, she mentioned passing out pencils and soccer balls to the Iraqi children whose school, she wrote, is essentially a mud hut, and little more.
“The (Iraqi) kids were very grateful to get the pencils we handed out, and we had just a couple of soccer balls that they were very excited to receive,” she wrote.
“Some of the families that live in the desert are very poor and are making their money from farming,” she continued. “It does not rain very much here at all so they try to live very close to the rivers. The lack of rain also causes lots of sand storms — there is sometimes so much sand in the air that the sky is orange! But the people are very nice and are always excited when we travel outside of our base to give them school supplies and medical supplies.”
Along with the letters are pictures, and pictures showing smiling Iraqi students studying inside a school essentially made of mud and thatch made a huge impression on the students, Steadley Principal Bob Goltra said.
“This is a perfect opportunity for our students to see just how blessed they really are,” Goltra said. “We’re talking about a school made out of mud with a straw roof, literally dirt floors.”
He described what his students are doing as “giving to a greater cause” and to “impact them with their kindness.”
The gathered goodies, Goltra continued, will also give “our soldiers the chance to give back to the people of Iraq.”
The items will be collected over Spring Break by the volunteers of CURE, or Compassionate Utilization of Resources and shipped out to Iraq by the Kansas-based 287th Sustainment Brigade.
Last year, CURE officials made 67 trips throughout the country, covering 31,000 miles, to collect tons of donated items for the people of Iraq.
Steadley fourth grader Lindsey Staples collected toy cars and baby dolls for the Iraqi children. And second grader Joshua Smith said giving away a pair of eyeglasses that he found in the back of the family car “made me feel really good.”
Third grader Cameron McKinney gave away an extra pair of white tennis shoes, while fellow classmate Nathan Lowther was donating a sandwich bag full of flash cards, glue and crayons, among other items.
When he was shown pictures of the school children with no books and pencils, “It made me feel sad,” he said, “that they didn’t have that much stuff.”
Added fifth grader student Kassandra Hainline, “I’m happy to help the kids in Iraq in any way.” Her classmate, Taylor Stanley, donated pencil toppers, more shoes and more toys.
Steadley sixth grade teacher Tammy Higgins showed her students the pictures of the Iraqi school and students.
“They were able to see… what (the Iraqi kids) have to deal with on an everyday basis. And they were shocked — really shocked.
“They have military people out there with guns… (the Iraqi students) have to deal with that every day at school,” she said.
Fifth grade science instructor Jamie Alberts has witnessed time and time again his students helping out others, whether it’s a classmate whose house had burned down to the annual canned food drive at Christmas.
“I’ve not surprised at all by the generosity of our kids,” Alberts said. “They just have big hearts.”
