Sendera Ranch Elementary gathers over 1,000 holiday cards for U.S. troops

For the third consecutive year, Sendera Ranch Elementary School partnered with KSCS 96.3’s Hawkeye in the Morning to make and collect holiday cards to send to troops who are away from home.

Sandra Dougherty, a third-grade teacher at Sendera Ranch, began the project after driving to work and hearing Hawkeye from KSCS 96.3 announce that the radio program was working with Support Our Soldiers. The partnership is part of project 10,000 for the Troops, whose goal is to collect 10,000 holiday cards to send to troops serving overseas.

The first year of their involvement, Ms. Dougherty’s class made cards and letters to send into the program, and two days later KSCS announced her class on the radio. Her students were ecstatic, with one even telling the teacher she was going to hold her head high for the rest of the day because she was “famous.”

“That set everything in motion,” Ms. Dougherty said.

Last year, the whole school got involved and was able to send in more than 400 cards. This year, the school’s student leadership club set a goal of 1,000 cards and the school beat it, sending a total of 1,099 cards.

“What I really loved the most about this project is that a group of students set a schoolwide goal, and everyone worked together to make it happen,” Ms. Dougherty said. “I got to see students working together on their cards to share ideas and drawings, and that really warmed my heart.”

The 10,000 for the Troops project also has a profound impact on students, as they realize small acts of kindness can make a huge difference.

“Making cards made me feel happy for the troops because they don’t get to go home for Christmas or other holidays,” said third-grader Silas Williams.

First-grader Ava Simmons was also happy to make a card for the troops, saying, “I think it will make the soldiers feel better about missing their home.”

KSCS recognized Sendera Ranch on the radio the morning of November 8 for completing 10 percent of the radio station’s overall 10,000-card goal. Click here to listen to the sound clip.