~on behalf of the kids~

You know, it's only a bulletin board.  When I first found it last summer in the hallway outside my classroom at Grandfield Elementary, it was barren and painted black.  It was like a blank slate, a canvas with a picture that was yet to be determined by me.  It's been utilized in many ways since that first day of school this past August.  More often than not, it has displayed the work of my second grade students as they wrote for me on various assignments throughout each 9 weeks.  It's been fun to showcase their work and give them a chance to share with others just what we are learning in our classroom.

It's only a bulletin board, but actually it is so much more beyond that. 
It's a tool to help children learn and to educate others along the way.

Much is asked of teachers in the great state of Oklahoma just like much is asked of teachers all over the nation.  The state standards for all of the core subjects are filled with things deemed to be the most important to spend our days teaching and for the kids to be learning.  We teachers take it quite seriously and align our lesson plans to the curriculum and the standards that go with them.  As a second grade teacher, I find some days that it's all I can do to make sure the reading/language arts standards as well as the math standards are covered.  Believe me when I say that we need at least a couple of more hours in the day most times.  The idea of managing to get social studies and science in during the course of our days together is a trick sometimes but it can be done.

When I began to look at the standards for second grade social studies and how to incorporate them into our work just shortly after Christmas, I came upon the 3rd standard, one that deals with geographic literacy.  As I read through what it meant for the kids to be geographically literate, I thought about the idea of having my students learn about the 50 states via postcards.  I figured surely I had enough connections across the nation that would help my kids to receive them by choosing one and then mailing them to us here in Oklahoma.  I only had to plant the seed, then wait and hope that someone would hear my request and help us out.

We've been working on this since January and have been the recipients of some awesome postcards.  One of the young ladies in my room has a very sweet grandmother who sent several antique postcards for the kids to look at and enjoy.  I even found one in that particular bunch from my native Kansas and recognized it right away as one that I had purchased now so many years ago.  Mike and I went into the store in Wichita Falls and bought a really nice U.S. map and ended up using the hallway bulletin board to display it plus all the postcards that had arrived.  It's been fun to watch the faces of the kids when Miss Sarah brings them into our classroom from the office.  It's like Christmas comes each time that door opens and Sarah's smiling face appears.  

"Mrs. Renfro, you guys got another postcard in the mail today!"

This morning I went to school to work awhile and took a moment to count up the cards that we had already received in the mail and to make note of those we were still lacking.  With a goal of having all 50 states taken care of by the last day of school in May, I knew that we were lagging behind a bit.  I put out a plea for them on social media this morning and the response that I received was pretty overwhelming.  I would have to admit that there were tears welling up in my eyes and a lump in my teacher's throat as I read the responses I received.  So many people out there are willing to help little children who they don't even know in order that they can learn about America.  They can see the value in a project such as ours and stand more than ready to do what they can.  It takes little in cost to do so.  By the time a postcard is purchased plus the stamp to mail it, hopefully no more than $1.75 to $2.00 will be spent.  For the students, although they will love to see it arrive in the mail, the greatest gift of all in addition to a colorful postcard is the fact that it cost the person who sent it one more thing.

It's the gift of their time.
And it was time spent for an Oklahoma child.
Just like them.

As a teacher for the past 4 decades now, I've had to find some pretty creative ways to teach daily lessons.  Our basic social studies curriculum is rather limited and I don't have all the fancy supplemental materials to use with it.  Of necessity I have to come up with some new ways to teach what is asked of me.  By no means am I alone in that fact.  Teachers everywhere across Oklahoma, and more than likely across the nation, could use way more funding for our schools in order to do our best job in educating the kids who are going to grow up to be the surgeon who operates on you, the architect who designs a supermarket that you buy your weekly groceries at, or the teacher who educates your grandchildren.  Until that time comes, all of us make do with different ideas and various things at our disposal.

I hope that when our bulletin board is complete, when the 50th post card arrives in the mail and is affixed to the appropriate state, that my boys and girls plus any other students in our school can learn a life lesson in social studies.  Perhaps not every child who attends Grandfield Elementary will get the chance to visit places like Rhode Island, Alaska, Hawaii, or North Carolina, but I do hope they remember the year that their teacher showed them America via the postcard.  

You know, it was only a bulletin board that was barren and painted black.  
With some imagination, it became the vehicle that took children to places they had never been.

It takes very little to help a child.  A postcard and a stamp, coupled with the desire to make a difference in the life of a young person is a mighty fine and honorable start.  To all who have sent them already and to anyone who will send one in the days ahead, I surely do thank you on behalf of the kids.  You probably knew this anyways but it bears repeating again.

Kids are more than worth it!