~it was a lesson to remember~

The final lesson of the 2019-2020 school year came to a close yesterday afternoon, one month after the last day of continuous learning from home.   It was one that I had hoped to complete right after spring break, but unfortunately Covid 19 got in the way.  The lesson came to its wonderful and long awaited conclusion when our good friend Julia dropped by our home in Newkirk on her way to visit family in Norman, Oklahoma.  She had two stow aways with her named Opal and Ophelia.  Julia's passengers had been the facilitators of a special kind of lesson that incorporated the ideas of community/geography/and just plain human kindness.

Mike and Julia were in the same class back at Haven High School and graduated in 1977.

Opal and Ophelia, aka "The Moose on the Loose", were little ambassadors from our 5th grade classroom at Liberty Elementary School in Ponca City, Oklahoma.  OK, let's just get right to the elephant in the room.   To some unbelievers, Opal and Ophelia were seasonal dog toys from the pet section of the local Walmart.  To those of us who understood their value in promoting goodness and the teaching of life lessons, they were the moose on the loose.  

That's how that went.

Our class was fortunate this past year to have 21 writing buddies, all of whom were either family members, friends, or former teaching colleagues from my days in Kansas.  All year long, each of my students wrote them weekly messages and they in turn wrote back as both groups shared what was happening in school and in life.  Julia was one of them.  I would have given anything for my class to be able to meet their buddies in person, but there were too many miles between most of them and us.  Unless I came up with an idea of how to bridge the gap between their lives and ours, it would seem impossible to connect in any way other than our messages.  

Enter Opal and Ophelia, fraternal twins and our "moose on the loose".

I came up with the idea to send these two "kids" on a journey that neither I nor any of my students would be able to go on.  In early November, I began to ask our writing buddies if they would be willing to entertain Opal and Ophelia for a few days and show them the neighborhoods in which they lived.   I hoped that they would consider sending back photos so the kids could see the part of the country they lived in as well as some of the things that made up a normal day for them.  It seemed like the perfect opportunity to build an even greater sense of community in our classroom.  It is that sense of community that enables a classroom to be successful and to find a sense of true purpose.  

So off they went.

Mike and I went home in late November to Hutchinson to drop the twins off with my sister Cindy and her husband Ken.  Cindy was the writing buddy of our Yesica and eager to help us get this project on the road.  They lived the "life of Riley" with the Daniels Family for a couple of days as Cindy showed them around Hutch and Ken spoiled them with all kinds of special treats.  They even had the once in a blue moon chance to sit on Ken's motorcycle, something that in their wildest of dreams I'm sure they never thought of.

 Ken Daniels is not only an awesome brother-in-law, he's also a good sport!

From Cindy's house in Hutch, they went on to another Cindy's house in St. John, Kansas.  The "other Cindy" is my dear friend from high school and was the writing buddy of our Alexis.  Fortunately for Opal and Ophelia,  one of their days ended up being "take your moose on the loose to work day" and by the looks of the pictures Cindy sent us, they had more fun than ever!

 ~fine people who have a heart for kids~

From south central Kansas they caught a ride in the belly of a USPS cargo plane as they traveled to Kennewick, Washington where our good friend and Hunter's writing buddy Leroy Tonn lives.  Leroy and I went to high school together back in Kansas.  He helped my class out as a writing partner for two years in a row.  

It was at his house where they learned to enjoy the gift of music, even offering up a song or two according to Leroy.  I hadn't pictured them to be singers, but Leroy said they did a pretty good job of it.  Who would have known?  They got into the habit of enjoying oatmeal with sprinkles for breakfast and learned what life was like in the scenic Pacific Northwest.  Soon it was time to get back in the belly of a cargo plane and head to the desert southwest and the state of Arizona where Anne (McKenzie's writing buddy) and LeRoy (Lathan's writing buddy) make their home during the winter months.  The good times kept on rolling and pictures were sent back to our class as proof.

 ~this world is filled with people who have good hearts~

There was so much to see and do in the great American Southwest and the time flew quickly by.  Opal and Ophelia had wanted to go to Mexico but unfortunately without a passport the twins were just plain out of luck.  They got pretty close though!  There was plenty to see like the giant Saguaro cactus that LeRoy rescued them from and the date tree shown above.  Opal and Ophelia were even treated to a date shake which they willingly shared between them.  

Before they knew it, Opal and Ophelia found themselves on the road once again, this time towards Valparaiso, Indiana and the home of Raegan's writing buddy Kathy.  They made their very first snowman at Kathy's house, went to an ice skating rink (and it was too bad that no skates were available in their size), and visited the statue of one of Indiana's own, Orville Redenbacher.  

 ~not sure what dear Orville would have thought~

By early February it was time to start heading back towards the Midwest so the remaining  writing buddies would have a chance to entertain Ophelia and Opal.  One more time they were securely wrapped in packaging that would take them to the home of Julia (Alicia's writing buddy).  Northeastern Kansas seemed like such faraway place but they made it there in no time at all and surely no worse for the wear.  Julia, a diehard KU fan, had the chance to promote a future university for them, if all works out.  They saw plenty of KU's red and blue during their first few days with her.  

 ~once a Jayhawker~

Opal and Ophelia were having so much fun that by early March they were still with her.  Julia was readying herself for a long anticipated trip to Spain.  We were talking about sending the twins off to the next writing buddy when Julia asked if they could go along with her to Madrid and Barcelona.  She promised to send them back once she returned to the states at the trip's end.  How could you pass up a kind offer like that?  So off they went!

 ~and they were not afraid, either~

No one expected to ever hear the phrase "worldwide pandemic" or "Covid 19", but while the twins were in Spain letting the good times roll, it struck.  At first the case numbers didn't seem so bad from Spain but things turned not so good rather quickly.  Julia made the decision to cut short her trip and return to the U.S. rather than taking the risk of having difficulty coming back to the United States.  The 3 of them caught a flight out of Spain and headed straight home.  Once they arrived, it was quarantine time for them all.  Not exactly the way we thought it would end for both the moose on the loose and for school systems all over the world, but it was what it was.

It was good to have Opal and Ophelia return to Oklahoma yesterday.  It had been such a long time to see them since that first day back in late November when we left them with Cindy and Ken in the Wendy's parking lot back in Hutch.  If I did the figuring correctly, and I could be off a mile or two, those two moose on the loose ended up traveling over 20,000 miles in all.  It was a lesson that I could not have taught from a plan book and surely not one that I could have presented all on my own.  

I had help.

Lots of it.