May 17, 2000
Flat Stanley sent on round the world trip
Central Elementary students learn valuable school lessons through cartoon character
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Second-grade students at Central Elementary School have been getting a unique lesson in geography this spring. Not to mention reading, writing and social studies plus a bit of soil science, zoology and food tasting thrown in for good measure.
For the fifth year, teachers Mary Harmison and Sharon Jennings have used Flat Stanley, a cartoon character from a series of children's books, to give their students a virtual trip around the country and the world.
For the uninitiated, the premise of the Flat Stanley stories by author Jeff Brown is that a kid named Stanley gets flattened one day by a bulletin board. He soon turns his two-dimensional status into an advantage and begins traveling the world via the mail, having numerous adventures in far-flung and not-so-far-flung locations.
Earlier this semester, each student cut out and colored a Flat Stanley, carefully preparing him for his upcoming adventures. Together the classes wrote a letter explaining who Flat Stanley was and asking that the recipient show him around and give Stanley a taste of local living. Each student then picked a friend or relative for the project and mailed Flat Stanley off.
Then the fun began. More than 20 replies have been received so far and students eagerly check their mail each day for more.
"We read the story Flat Stanley and it took off from there," noted Harmison, noting that the two teachers got the idea from Mrs. Jennings' niece in Kansas City, who sent her a Flat Stanley as a third-grade class project years ago. "It is an idea that is copied by teachers and has been circling the United States and the world for years."
The recipients of Flat Stanleys have thrown themselves into the spirit of the project. So far students have gotten back money, books, photos, candy, letters and pictures of Flat Stanley's adventures from Detroit, Hawaii, Arizona, Oregon and Nevada.
Flat Stanley has been X-rayed in a Detroit hospital and photographed with Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura; he has ridden a Harley Davison, visited art museums, surfed and swam in Hawaii and visited a Cathedral. He has been returned accompanied by a hockey puck from a Red Wings game, chocolate-covered macadamia nuts from Hawaii and a plastic Gila monster from Nevada.
"My mom has a friend in Hawaii and we sent him there," said Amelia Schnack, a second- grade student who received an elaborate book filled with pictures and stories of Flat Stanley's tour of Hawaii. "We have a picture of a police officer there putting him on a tall sign and Flat Stanley visited a Hawaiian village from long ago."
Overseas destinations for Flat Stanley have included Switzerland, a military base in Spain and England, where he saw the changing of the guard at Windsor Castle but could not make the guards smile. Even at this very moment, Flat Stanley is in France thanks to school principal Sharon Dionne, who is traveling there on a trip this week.
Even a less-traveled Flat Stanley captured the students' interest. One student sent Flat Stanley to his grandmother in Traverse City, who responded with a three-page letter saying that she couldn't travel with Flat Stanley but went on to describe what life was like for her growing up in Traverse City.
"Flat Stanley really helps the kids see what you are teaching," Harmison said. "This semester we did an Earth science unit and from Flat Stanley's travels we learned about mountains, volcanoes, igneous rock and oceans. Some people sent dirt samples and we discussed their color and why they might be that color. The kids love getting the mail now."