Heartland students send art, treats to overseas soldiers

Heartland Elementary School students worked this month to send deployed soldiers some art with heart.

Jill Pickett

Savannah Weber, 8, loads her rocket with peppermints on a string to send to deployed soldiers during an art club meeting at Heartland Elementary School in Elizabethtown.

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Jill Pickett

Kaylynn Keffer, 8, draws a design in her square of the "quilt" on the inside of the care package box to be sent from the Heartland Elementary School art club to deployed soldiers.

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Third-grade art club members at Heartland spent time at their recent club meetings gathering items and making crafts to send in a care package to a group of soldiers who came to the attention of art teacher Bethany Whelan.

Friends of Whelan were planning to create a care package for a deployed soldier, and Whelan decided it would be a great project for her students to make art for the soldiers in the unit.

The students have decorated the box and made “candy rockets” - construction paper creations that are filled with treats. The students have been collecting the snacks as well as personal care items to include.

Whelan said the project would reinforce lessons the students have received about the military and their service overseas. She likes that the students will see that what they do for military members matters.

“I like seeing them make a difference,” she said.

Third-grader Molly McCleerey said she liked the idea of giving a gift to the soldiers.

“I think it’s really nice,” McCleerey said.

She enjoyed decorating the rockets, which the students had made in patriotic colors and embellished with feathers and glitter, “because you can just be creative with your own ideas.”

Each of the students was given a square to fill with artwork on the lid of the box. Savannah Weber enjoyed this part of the preparation the most.

“I liked making the little boxes because when they open the box they’ll have something to look at and they’ll think of home,” Weber said.

Kelly Cantrall can be reached at (270) 505-1747 or kcantrall@thenewsenterprise.com.