Elmhurst students show gratitude to troops serving overseas

Somewhere out there this holiday season, a soldier who's lonely and far from home is going to get a card from a kid he's never met.

He's going to open it and inside he's going to find a simple note. The words may be a little different, and they may even be accompanied by a hand-drawn picture, but the sentiment ultimately will be the same: Thank you for your service. Thank you for your bravery. Thank you for all the sacrifices you've made on behalf of others.

Thank you, the card will say.

And it'll be signed by an elementary school student from Elmhurst.

'I'm in'

Christine Trendel likes country music, and so it's only natural that she cranks up WUSN 99.5-FM every morning on the way to work as principal of Jackson Elementary School.

And it's no surprise that she feels a little extra connection with the morning team of Doug Stylz and Justin Roman because she's good friends with Roman's sister.

"I listen to them every day," she says.

So there she is in early November, a rookie principal on her way to school in Elmhurst Unit District 205 singing along with Blake or Dierks or Carrie or Miranda when the DJs start talking about a project the station is pursuing.

Conducted in conjunction with the USO of Illinois Great Lakes Naval Base, it's called 10,000 For the Troops. The goal is to collect 10,000 holiday cards to provide a bright spot for our men and women serving in the armed forces overseas.

And Trendel thinks, hmm, maybe there's something we can do to help.

So she sends a note to her teachers at the end of the day to gauge their interest in having the kids at Jackson - kindergartners through fifth-graders - take some time to write a short letter of support to a service member.

When she comes in the next morning, well before classes start, she already has replies from five teachers saying essentially the same thing: "I'm in."

By the time it comes time to actually write the letters, everybody is in, and almost every student ends up writing at least one.

Trendel sets a goal of 500 letters from Jackson students, and because the kids don't want to let her down, some even write more, bringing the final total to 525.

The principal makes sure they all get to the radio station, which tops its own goal by collecting more than 23,000 cards.

Personal connection

The letter-writing campaign tells you a lot about Elmhurst and Jackson School and the kids and teachers who populate the place, Trendel says.

"It was a chance for us to be thoughtful and grateful outside our community in Elmhurst," she says. "Thanking our soldiers for their service was really the theme."

The campaign also meshed perfectly with the lessons the Jackson staff tries to instill in its young students: Be yourself. Choose kindness. Try something new.

"The students were really excited to do it," she says. "The time and care the kids put into it was special. They drew pictures. They tried to make a personal connection."

Some students in third, fourth and fifth grades who are studying Spanish even wrote cards in that language.

This isn't the first time the school has undertaken a project to help others.

Around Halloween, the student council sponsored a fundraiser in which staff members carved or decorated pumpkins and then raffled them off to collect around $1,700 to benefit Fisher House Foundation, which provides military families with housing close to a loved one during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury.

Trendel says she hopes the holiday letter-writing campaign becomes a tradition at Jackson.

"I really believe in service to others," she says. "We try to have our kids believe in service, too."

Simple thanks

Somewhere out there this holiday season, a soldier who's far from home is going to get a card from a kid she's never met.

Thank you, the card will say.

And it'll be signed by an elementary school student from Elmhurst. A kid who learned a lesson about service. A kid who tried something new. A kid who chose kindness.