Chambersburg teacher provides her students with a “sweet” history lesson
In this day and age of high-stakes testing, when educators are less and less able to follow a teachable moment down whichever road it leads, it is the rare teacher who finds the luxury of time for a very special project.
This fall, however, one of those special moments occurred, and thanks to Deborah Culbertson, a third-grade teacher at the South Hamilton Elementary School in Chambersburg, her students gained a new understanding of our history – both past and present.
It all began with a book. “We were reading Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot by Margot Theis Raven, which details the true story of then-Lt. Gail Halvorsen, a pilot who flew missions during the 1948-49 Berlin airlift and dropped chocolate bars to the children of Berlin in an effort to brighten their dismal lives,” Culbertson explained. “The children were so engrossed by the story that they wanted to know everything they could about not only Halvorsen, but also Mercedes, the little girl in the story.”
They began doing some research and found out that the now-Col. Halvorsen, who retired from the service in 1974, was living in Utah and would be celebrating his 89th birthday on October 10. Through a bit of serendipity, Culbertson was able to reconnect with a friend in Utah that she hadn’t seen in over 30 years. Within five minutes the class had his address.
She continued, “We came up with the plan to write letters to him, send photos of ourselves and send him a huge Hershey’s chocolate bar, as that was one of the main suppliers of his efforts during and after the war.
“Of course, the children were hoping for a reply to our letters almost immediately after we sent him ours. They asked every day if one had arrived. They were thrilled when on Monday, October 26, there was indeed a letter from Col. Halvorsen in my school mailbox. He wrote that he was thrilled with their kindness, impressed with their writing abilities, answered many of their questions, and ended with words of wisdom for them living their lives.”
Through their research, Culbertson’s students learned that Col. Halvorsen still flies and still does chocolate drops all over the world. He told them that he was grateful to the Hershey Co. and the relationship they have maintained with him since 1948. They found out that Mercedes Wild became a pilot herself, and that that Halvorsens visit her family in Berlin practically every year.
But their studies expanded far beyond Col. Halvorsen’s story. Near the end of September, while the children were awaiting a reply to their letters, Mrs. Culbertson e-mailed her students’ parents and grandparents to involve them in the learning experience. She placed a link on her webpage to all they had learned about Halvorsen and asked the adults to sit down with their children and talk about it. She then encouraged them to share information with their children about friends and relatives who have served or are serving in the military; to gather information, photos, etc. and share them with the whole class.
“The ‘Honoring Our Heroes Past and Present’ turned out to be more than I could have anticipated,” she said. “We had a World War I uniform that belonged to the great-grandfather of one of our students. He claimed to be 18 to get into the army, but was really only 17. We had photos from WWI through Iraq and Afghanistan: great-great grandfathers, grandfathers, fathers, brothers, cousins were represented.”
Culbertson said that it has been wonderful to work with such an enthusiastic group of students. “They were excited and motivated and totally embraced the story and the characters. The whole project turned out to be the most productive learning experience possible.”