KAILUA, Hawaii -- The classroom is a surprising beehive of activity. Students hurry this way and that, busily preparing flyers and making phone calls to local businesses, sneaking just one or two more in before the final bell signals the end of their day.
If the typical scene in Kathleen Nullet’s eighth grade gifted and talented classroom at Kailua Intermediate School looks less like a classroom and more like a productive office environment, one would not be far from deducing the essence of the situation.
The students are wrapping up their service learning project: Operation e malama na keiki o Iraq (Caring for the children of Iraq) and they are utilizing every aspect of their education, and even learning some new concepts, to collect and redistribute to Iraq as many donated plush toys and soccer balls as they can. They will then mail their fuzzy and furry humanitarian packages to Staff Sgt. Ronna Weyland, II MEF Press Chief, deployed to Iraq from Headquarters Battalion, MCB Hawaii.
Once the stuffed animals and soccer balls reach Camp Fallujah, Weyland will send the toys out with Marines on patrol who will pass them out at schools around the province.
Easier said than done, the students have put forth a lot of effort in order to ensure the success of the project. They have raised around $300, so far, that will be used toward shipping costs, and have already collected hundreds of plush animals and soccer balls. They hope this weekend’s drive, taking place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Kailua Intermediate School in Kailua, will be even more successful.
“I think the students of Kailua Intermediate are committing a very selfless act,” said Weyland in an e-mail from Iraq. Weyland has been working closely with the students and Hawaii Representative Cynthia Thielen who has also facilitated the project.
“Having been to several of the schools in Al Anbar province, I believe the children of Iraq will greatly appreciate the goodwill. This small gesture from the Oahu community will have a huge impact on the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people and will help the Marines here accomplish their mission,” said Weyland.
Many students here say they have had a difficult time sifting through the media blitz surrounding the Global War on Terrorism. With an overload of information from frequently stilted sources, leaving them feeling uneasy about how Iraqis saw Americans, the eighth graders decided to reach out to the people of Iraq.
“I think the kids there just see the military side of who we are. I hope what we’re doing will show them America is more than just the military and that we want to help them,” said Noelle Owen, an eighth grader from Kailua whose father is in the Army.
Nullet, the gifted and talented program coordinator at Kailua Intermediate School, explained that the students are separated into four subgroups, each with a particular job they must perform to make the operation a success.
“They have a communication group, a delivery group, a research group and a donations group,” said Nullet. “The research group has been learning about the Iraqi culture, for instance, while the donations group has coordinated fund-raising efforts so we can afford to mail all of the stuffed animals to Staff Sgt. Weyland in Iraq. I’m facilitating the kids, but they’re the ones really in charge of this.”
“Pigs,” said Ariana Braine emphatically, eighth grader at Kailua Intermediate, whose staff sergeant father, Albert, is currently serving in Iraq. “We can’t send stuffed animal pigs, because the Iraqi children could see it as insulting because they don’t believe in eating them or touching them because of all the diseases they can carry there,” she explained. Braine is part of the research group of students who have learned about cultural pitfalls they must avoid.
Other students have become volunteer-coordinating mavens, writing telemarketer-style scripts to raise the money they will need to pay for shipping. Still others have begun the arduous task of making the space-management and geometrical calculations they will need to make in order to figure out how to make the most out of the donated boxes and money.
“How many soccer balls can you put in a box and still be cost effective is the question,” said Dr. Robert Hughes, the students’ math teacher and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel. “They’re going to figure that out and then get the most out of this that they can.”
Donations of soccer balls and stuffed animals will be accepted at Kailua Intermediate, Saturday from 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Donations to help defer shipping costs will also be accepted.
For more details, call Nullet at 263-1500.