Paracord Keychains in CN 5th Grade
This year, fifth graders at Central decided to celebrate Read Across America a little differently. This year, they partnered with Operation Gratitude on a service project to create paracord lanyards for service members.
The fifth grade classes at Central had family members of students that are service members and veterans come in to read books about the military to celebrate Read Across America and introduce the topic of our service project. Captain Troy Kemper, a parent in Mrs. Brandie Schroeder's class who served in the U.S. Army National Guard for 20 years, came in to read to the students, tying literacy into their service project and allowing the students to learn more about the experiences of service members in our own community.
Austin Chalfant, another parent from Mrs. Brandie Schroeder’s class, video chat to read to the students and show a slideshow about his current role in the military. He is a first class Navy diver currently stationed in Maryland and his son is a fifth grader at Central.
The students really enjoyed learning about the armed forces. They were intrigued by the various uses for paracord lanyards, such as hanging IV bags, using the inside strings as sutures, and putting together makeshift shelters in the wilderness. The students could visualize someone using the lanyards to help save themselves or someone else, and this gave them a ton of motivation to problem-solve and persevere when making them.
These fifth grade classes worked with Operation Gratitude to send more than 100 paracord lanyards and "Thank-You" notes in care packages sent to deployed military members. Operation Gratitude has sent upwards of 4 million care packages to service members.
