Students’ Persuasive Letters Bring Tastykakes To Town
Correction: 1-4-01; N3 Butterscotch Krimpets, a Twinkie-like treat made by the Tastykake company, have been available in Spokane for about four years at several locations, including Chevron Northtown, 4615 N. Division; Divine’s Foodmarts, 701 E. Second, 925 E. Wellesley, 1918 N. Hamilton, 3125 E. Mission, 21804 E. Mission; and Hico Gas and Grocery, 901 E. Sharp. The cakes are distributed by Core-Mark International, a wholesale grocery. A story in the Dec. 21 North Side Voice stated otherwise.
Spokane residents will soon be able to chow down on Butterscotch Krimpets right here in Spokane.
And they’ll have Audubon Elementary School sixth-graders to thank.
Gwen Sanders’ students recently finished reading the book “Maniac Magee,” in which the main character favored the Twinkie-like cakes. But no one in the class really knew what a Butterscotch Krimpet was.
So, they asked another teacher who used to live in Pennsylvania (that’s where the story took place), and she was able to have her mother send the class a box. The students were so taken with the sweets that they decided to do something about the dearth of Butterscotch Krimpets in Spokane.
“We wrote persuasive letters to the Tastykake company president and convinced him to sell the cakes here,” said Robert Olsen, 12.
Students worked hard making sure their letters had strong introductions, lots of facts and good conclusions.
Michael Bowman said in his letter that West Coast kids don’t even know what Butterscotch Krimpets are, or what they taste like. Tatyana Skripnik mused about how nice it would be to have Butterscotch Krimpets along with a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day. Normarose Gordon talked about how eager kids would be to find Butterscotch Krimpets in their lunchboxes.
Tonya Copley appealed to the business side, explaining how much more money the company could make since Butterscotch Krimpets are new and that they taste so good.
Two weeks later, the class received 12 boxes of Tastykakes, and each student received a personal letter from the company chairman.
“Here at Tastykake, we get letters from children all around the country,” Tastykake Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Carl S. Watts wrote, “but I must say I can’t remember any letters being as persuasive as yours.”
Watts also said Tastykake is expanding its business out West, and that “before too long, you should be seeing Butterscotch Krimpets in Spokane.”
Sanders’ students whooped with delight when they received the cakes. Not only were they excited about the sweets, but they had real proof that kids’ voices can be heard - and responded to.
“From this, I learned that we can make a difference,” said Hailey Miller. Others suddenly realized the importance of writing.
Dazzled by their newfound power, Sanders’ students next wrote persuasive letters to Audubon Principal Greg Baerlocher requesting that they be allowed to chew gum in school Tuesday, the last day before winter break.
Baerlocher relented, and the students chomped their way to vacation.
Students help the homeless
One achingly cold day last week, it was difficult to stay warm walking just a few blocks. Imagine being homeless and having to withstand endless days and nights of freezing temperatures.
Mead High School students stopped to think about the kids like them who don’t have homes and decided to do something to help. Last week they donated more than 60 backpacks filled with necessities like soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, socks, jackets and blankets to Crosswalk, Spokane’s shelter for homeless teens.
“I got this giving feeling in me. I thought, `Let’s do it! This is awesome,”’ said junior Bethany Akins. “It is so cool. To see how many people will benefit from this is amazing.”
Akins is a member of Mead’s breakthrough class, which does team-building and trust-building exercises and challenges students to get outside their comfort zones and learn about others. Akins spent lots of time on the phone with grocery stores, hotels and her orthodontist and dentist trying to gather as many donations as possible.
“It’s a season of giving. It gives you a warm feeling inside,” said freshman Tressa Tsoumpas. “You realize how much you have when you see people who don’t have anything.”
After dropping off the backpacks, students spent the rest of the day helping out at the United Methodist Church, City Gate and the Union Gospel Mission.
Students at St. George’s School have also been devoting days to community service, donating clothing, toiletries, books, games, batteries, baby supplies and household items to the Volunteers of America youth programs - one of which is Crosswalk.
They have also spent time with the residents of the Cooper George Retirement Community, held a blood drive and helped out at the Second Harvest Food Bank.
“The holiday season is a great time to give our time and resources,” said sophomore Katie Nolen. “It’s a nice feeling to know you’ve helped others and hopefully made them happy.”
Rogers students help Rypien field
When the Spokane Youth Sports Association approached Rogers High School with a donation request to help support the development of Hillyard’s new Andrew Rypien Field, students wasted no time in raising funds. For one week, students were asked to help out during their advisory period, and they collected $1,500.
Rogers’ ASB adviser Karrie Docterman said they will hold another donation period in the spring. The field is scheduled to open next summer.