News

It's treats, not tricks, for troops

By Joanne Flemming
Compass Correspondent

APPLETON -- Because U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan "are doing so much for us." That - in the word of sixth grader Katie Plank - is why St. Joseph Middle School students here are sending those soldiers a Halloween treat: hard candy, along with letters and cards of support.

For the two weeks, between Oct. 24 and Nov. 4, the students took part in a drive sponsored by the student council to collect hard candy such as peppermints, Jolly Ranchers, and Lifesavers, from individuals, Appleton's Catholic schools and many of the city's parishes.

Eighth grade social studies teacher Katie Humleker, a student council co-adviser, had no idea how many pounds were collected altogether, but said St. Joseph students had brought in more than 1,000 pounds. One sixth grade homeroom alone contributed more than 80 pounds.

The candy will be sent to 100 Wisconsin soldiers in the Mid-East during Thanksgiving week. Each homeroom has been assigned four soldiers' names and will send each a box of candy and letters. They will continue to write to those soldiers throughout the school year.

The idea for the candy collection grew out of a leadership retreat that the student council took at the beginning of the 2004-2005 school year, Humleker said. Matt Bay, a former Army ranger and son of Pat Olander (the council's other adviser) told them that troops carry hard candy because they don't have access to meals when they are on long duty. Also, their mouths get dry in Afghanistan and Iraq's arid climates.

"They put a handful of hard candy in their pockets and pop one in whenever they need it," said Humleker. The candy "is easily carried," along with being a "sweet little reminder of the people back here."

The student council held brainstorming sessions to organize and promote the candy collection, eighth grader Christopher Kessenich and Humleker said.

Plank and Kessenich, along with fellow student Sean Bernecker (seventh grade), said their main jobs were to get their homerooms enthused about the drive. The top collecting homeroom for each grade got an ice cream party.

The students were told to bring in "hard candy, not chocolate so it would not melt," Bernecker explained. Each room received a Halloween bucket to fill, but those were soon overflowing, Humleker said. The candy ended up "in boxes and huge buckets."

Younger children also brought in candy from trick or treating. Humleker had one four-year-old come into the school office with his treats because "he wanted to give his candy to the troops."

When asked why he had participated in this project, eighth grader Kessenich said, "Anything to help the troops in Iraq, because it is so uncomfortable over there. They're fighting a war and any little thing that (we can do to) make their day better and keep them more comfortable."

Sixth grader Plank agreed. "They're doing so much for us, we could do some stuff for them."

Kessenich summed up the importance of middle school students helping their communities: "If we start when we are younger, then we'll probably do it when we are older. If we don't do anything and don't care, our community isn't going to be a nice one."