Editor

Letter to the Editor

The power of newspapers:

Dear Wisconsin Superheroes!

There is no way to appropriately thank you for how generously you responded to Bryce McKinney’s request for help on his State of Wisconsin class project. You and more than 592 other residents of Wisconsin sent letters, books, magazines, maps, pictures, recipes, historical information, food, clothing, flags, rocks, magnets, stickers, antlers, syrup, cranberries, “cow tails”, “cow pies”, and of course, CHEESE! Bryce and the rest of our family and friends in Virginia were overwhelmed by your kindness and want to thank you.

Bryce was in a class of 50 third grade students. He was randomly assigned the state of Wisconsin. Bryce received exponentially more responses to his requests for help than any other student. As such, the school had to bring in extra support to go through Bryce’s mail and his grandmother spent five sevenhour days at the school opening and logging materials. Unbelievable! You have certainly shown the pride you have for your state. We even had one family from Wisconsin Rapids visit with Bryce in person. He learned so much as a result of all the helpful things you sent and was able to prepare a well-rounded presentation for The Langley School “State Fair,” complete with giveaways provided by you if students answered Wisconsin state fact questions correctly. Bryce had a popular table!

We are deeply sorry that Bryce was not able to write everyone a handwritten letter. It would have been an enormous, year long undertaking for him to write 593 handwritten letters.

In the end, we decided to write to the newspapers that had published Bryce’s request for information in a feeble attempt to get a “thank you” out to you. And though he wrote to seven newspapers when the project started, somehow he received responses from over thirty newspapers! Your entire state pulled together for Bryce in a way that moved us to tears. Thank you, Wisconsin! Please know that the time, effort and expense you put into sending your package to Bryce has enhanced the learning of Bryce as well as all the 500+ students of his school. Please enjoy the included photos that show how much of an impact your help has made on this unforgettable learning experience for Bryce and the rest of our community.

With your sincerest gratitude and appreciation, Bryce, Jessie and Ryan McKinney Reston, VA