Westfield Virtual School doesn't let being virtual stop us from being involved in the community! For the second year now, State Senator John Velis's office organized the Thank a Veteran Project to deliver letters from students to veterans in our community, and Westfield Virtual School happily got involved.
Our students got creative with their letters, utilizing different techniques and digital platforms to create their letters, from typing, to handwriting and drawing and then scanning.
Mr. David Castonguay, the WVS history teacher for grades 5-8 and retired LtCol for the Massachusetts Air National Guard and Director of Military Equal Opportunity for the 104th Fighter Wing, took the lead in WVS’s participation in this initiative. Ms. Alicia Frappier facilitated the elementary student letters, and Castonguay facilitated grades 5-8, and Mr. Castonguay then compiled all the letters and handed them off to Senator Velis’s office staff.
Mr. Castonguay had his students write two letters, one to a veteran in their life that they do know, and one to a veteran they do not know. Castonguay had students give their letter to a veteran they know themselves, and collected/printed letters to veterans they do not know to give to State Senator Velis’s office.
Senator Velis’s office gave over 1500 letters from students in schools all over the area and brought them to Holyoke Soldiers Home, a huge increase from the 500 they received last year. Westfield Virtual School is looking forward to continuing our participation in this initiative, and more opportunities like it that give our students ways to give back and be involved in the community, in the years to come.
On behalf of Westfield Virtual School, thank you to all those who have served or continue to serve our country.
