Opportunity Elementary students gather items for troops

Boxes for U.S. troops in Iraq have mushroomed inside Opportunity Elementary.

The sheer quantity of care packages – enough for about 160 military members – left Principal Tammy Campbell with an unexpected puzzle to solve.

How would the school pay for postage to send all the supplies of toothpaste, deodorant, gum, books and other gifts? Campbell has put out another plea to the community for cash donations toward postage, handled through Opportunity’s Parent-Teacher-Student Organization.

The first wave of care packages was shipped Monday after Campbell and parents spent time over the weekend sealing and addressing the boxes. About one-third of the packages remained for a later shipment.

“Our community did all of this,” Campbell said last week, as she pointed to the boxes and boxes of supplies that students had stuffed into two-gallon, sealed plastic bags. At first she expected the school to gather about 50 care packages.

“We got more, honestly, than I ever thought we’d receive.”

“A lot of people think you can send it over by military plane. It has to go by postal with a system like customs. Those boxes have to go through a process.

All the school’s students enclosed about 350 letters, with art projects and messages of support.

About three weeks ago, Campbell suggested the school drive because her husband, Kyle, stationed with the Air Force in Iraq, recently mentioned the need soldiers still have for basic items such as foot powder and Gatorade.

“I knew the interest in sending supplies had faded,” she said. “The news was old. I wanted the troops to know we supported them.”

The school’s students took the project on with passion, and the community response was overwhelming, she said. Classes held a drive with an ice cream party incentive.

Students Maggie Waugaman, Alli Shutt, Taylor Martins, Alivia Cunanan and Amanda Walsh on separate weekends stood outside a grocery store with a list of soldiers’ needs. Shoppers often bought items on the spot, turning them over to the students.

“The Spokane Teachers Credit Union, Albertsons, Rosauers all sent items,” Campbell added. “We had to literally say, ‘stop.’ “

Cunanan and Martins, both fourth-graders, said that students wrote about how much they missed the troops and cared about them.

“One of the things they need is baby wipes,” explained Cunanan. “It helps them clean themselves from all the dirt without using the water supply.”

Added Martins, “Gatorade is important. They can really use the energy boost because they sacrifice their lives for us every single day and every single hour.”

Martins, who is in teacher Andrea Kingman‘s class, said she and classmates won the ice cream party for bringing in the most supplies, but the students voted to skip the treat and use the money instead toward postage.

“The troops are more important to us,” she said.

For more information on donations for postage, contact the school at 228-4550.

Trentwood kids earn stripes

Trentwood Elementary School celebrated a 14-year tradition this past Friday.

The Tiger Trot is a fun run for third- through fifth-graders, with students completing a 1.2-mile course behind the school, into the adjoining neighborhood, and back. Finishers get a T-shirt, with a design created by one of their classmates.

Many teachers and staff walk or run the course as well. First- and second-grade students cheer for their classmates.

Jon Atwood, a fifth-grade teacher, started the short-run tradition back in 1986 at Trent, moving it four years later to Trentwood.

“I want to encourage physical fitness,” he said. “I’d like the students to think of running as a lifetime sport or, better, do track and field.”

Each year, students submit ideas for the T-shirt design to be judged by staff. The design is kept a secret and the winner gets to watch the art be re-created on cloth.

Shelby Scouton won the T-shirt contest this year, creating a “T” in checkered black-and-white racing colors and a tiger face.

Race winners were Jamie Adams for overall female winner (11 minutes, 59 seconds) and Scott Taylor for overall male winner (10:20). Top girl finishers included fifth-graders: Madison Goodwin, Jordan Bonertz and Taylor Voellger; fourth-graders: Caitlin MacFarlane, Nikki Hinckley and Lydia Strom; third-graders: Sandy Barakat, Ashley Manley and Brittnee Barbieri.

Top boy winners were fifth-graders: Jon Merkel, Jered Underwood and Jake Moorhead; fourth-graders: Garret Sawyer, Eric Eaton and Eric Crim; third-graders: Trevor Bennett, Timofey Zherebnenko and Mark Peganov.