4/20/2023 0 Comments Honor flight mail call samples“Mike and his students have been producing the pens for a few years now, so I went down to Sun Prairie to learn the ropes. “After I received the grant I was eager to bring this technology to the kids,” McConnell explains. Then in January, McConnell brought the Freedom Pen project to fruition, following a trip to Sun Prairie for a day of training with teacher Mike Roth of Cardinal Upper Middle School. Last year the foundation awarded a total of $11,893 in grants, the most since 2010. “I want to create a project that promotes community involvement, technical skill development, volunteerism, and patriotism all at the same time,” McConnell said, during a reception for grant recipients in early November. The roots of the program began in October, when McConnell was awarded a $1,000 grant from the “Beyond Crayons and Computers” program.įunded through the Merrill Area Community Foundation, the Beyond Crayons and Computers program invites teams of teachers from 3-year-old programs through the high school, to submit grant applications that are not only innovative and creative, but also involve parents, teachers and other members of the community. The pens will be a product of the “Freedom Pen” program, spearheaded by 8th grade Manufacturing and Construction teacher Pete McConnell. In addition, each pen will come labeled with the material of which it is made, as well as the date of creation. When the 29th Never Forgotten Honor Flight rolls down the tarmac of Central Wisconsin Airport on the morning of May 22 bound for Washington DC, each of the 94 veterans will be carrying with them a personalized gift from a Prairie River Middle School 8th grade student in the form of a custom-made pen with the name of its respective student manufacturer.
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