officially launched into space, as shown by the special blue stamp.
By Stephen Smoot
Three decades ago, educator Dale Hubert had an idea.
He would take a character from a book written three decades prior called “Flat Stanley” and build an educational project around him. The book, written by American author Jeff Brown, tells of an elementary school boy named Stanley Lambchop who was, unfortunately, flattened by a falling bulletin board.
In the book, Flat Stanley makes the best of an inconvenient situation. Though only existing in two dimensions now, he can still enjoy traveling. His parents roll him up, put him in a tube, and mail him to California for a visit.
As interesting as the more literal minded modern generations might feel about the details of being flattened, rolled up, encased in a tube, and sent somewhere via the occasionally reliable United States Postal Service, Flat Stanley has seen extended life through a project that plays on the story.
Hubert created a website describing the project and it, as the website describes, serves as “the longest lasting literacy site on the internet.”
As the site explains “kids send a flat visitor to a school, a celebrity, a family member, a politician, or anyone of interest and the recipient returns the little guy along with a completed journal and perhaps some souvenirs, such as postcards, photos, or special items.
And this is where Franklin Elementary School’s third grade and its teacher, Shay Dove, come into the story.
They dreamed much, much bigger than a celebrity or a politician. Franklin’s third grade sent their Flat Stanleys to space.
Blue Origin, a private sector space flight company, also runs a non profit called Club for the Future. The club collects postcards from all over the nation to fly into space. Cards return and then get stamped “flown to space” and returned to sender.
“Send us as many postcards as you’d like,” says the club’s website, “we’ll fly them all!”
Dove explained that although the idea of sending objects to space electrified the children, the learning remains the core reason. “We read the book first,” recalled Dove, who added that the project includes a “letter writing process.” Such projects that cloak skills development with a fun and exciting “hook” often produce the best results in elementary education.
“This is my 10th year. I’ve been doing this since I began teaching,” shared Dove.
One problem arose, however. Since the Club for the Future accepts and sends every postcard, those from Franklin got delayed three years before flight.
“We sent them with a hope and a prayer,” stated Dove, but the postcards did not immediately return. Only after three years, after both teacher and students forgot about them, did they return, duly stamped. Dove took them immediately to the sixth-grade class where the participating students are now.
Dove shared, “They’d forgotten about it. I’d forgotten about it.”
The timing of the return made Dove and her fellow teachers wonder if the cards had gone into flight with popular singer and television host Katy Perry when she joined a celebrity flight. They looked into the scanned cards posted online, but would have to sift through thousands of images.
In schools all over the country, teachers have explored unconventional ways to teach both traditional and new skills. They may not always make the news, but they happen nonetheless.
Dove encourages parents to check school Facebook pages to see all the exciting work done by teachers, parents, and volunteers, to give Pendleton County children the best education possible.
