Published: May 14, 2008 10:45 pm         

West Vigo Elementary students embrace Flat Stanley Project

West Vigo Flat Stanleys have enjoyed many exciting adventures

WEST TERRE HAUTE — Thanks to Flat Stanley, students in Kari Beattie’s class at West Vigo Elementary have corresponded with students from more than 40 states as well as Australia, Kuwait, Malta and Slovakia.

The Flat Stanley Project is an international literacy activity that uses paper cutouts of the title character from the 1964 children’s book “Flat Stanley.”

In the book, Stanley is flattened when a bulletin board falls on him. Now, Flat Stanley can visit his friends by being mailed in an envelope.

The West Vigo students colored or decorated their own paper versions of Flat Stanley, kept journals about him and his experiences at the school, and then sent their work to other students in far-away classrooms.

Students in those other states and countries treated Flat Stanley as a guest and wrote journals about his activities. When they sent Flat Stanley back to West Vigo, they included the journal as well as pictures, postcards and sometimes souvenirs.

West Vigo Flat Stanleys have had many exciting adventures.

He toured Bratislava, Slovakia; went snowmobiling in Alaska; made maple syrup in Vermont; broke an arm while skiing in Colorado; and sunbathed in Hawaii. On a more serious note, he’s spending time in Iraq with a member of the military.

Upon returning to West Vigo, Flat Stanley has brought back currency from Slovakia, a boomerang from Australia and a basketball jersey from Pennsylvania.

“This has been the best project I’ve ever done in my 10 years of teaching,” Beattie said.

The project incorporates reading, writing, geography and math as students calculate postage or distances between West Terre Haute and other sites.

Beattie went to the Flat Stanley Web site to find other schools that wanted to participate, and then e-mailed some of the sites to see if they would host West Vigo’s Flat Stanleys. “Once we got the e-mails back, then we sent out our packets of information,” she said.

When classes from other states and countries ask West Vigo to host their Flat Stanley, Beattie’s class will send other information including an Indiana fact and activity book as well as information about Vigo County.

The walls of Beattie’s classroom are covered with maps, pictures, souvenirs and colorful Flat Stanleys that reflect his many adventures this year. Her students plot Flat Stanley’s travels on a map.

Flat Stanley is even doing a tour of duty with Adam Claycomb, who is serving with the military in Iraq. Claycomb, the brother-in-law of Beattie’s sister, keeps Stanley in his pocket.

The class hopes Flat Stanley can visit a school in Iraq, with Claycomb sending back pictures to the West Vigo students.

Beattie said that through Flat Stanley, her students look forward to writing now. “I don’t have to force them to write,” she said. Also, “They’re excited when we get things back” from other places.

Her students especially like receiving pictures from other states, countries and even continents.

Beattie also learned that letters can be translated into other languages through the Internet.

One of her students, 11-year-old Trent Hayes, enjoys making Flat Stanleys. “It’s fun to send things to your pals,” he said.

He likes receiving pictures from other places, and he liked getting a boomerang and other souvenirs from Australia.

Another student, Rusty Hart, is especially interested in Flat Stanley’s activities with Claycomb in Iraq.

Corey Hart, Rusty’s brother, said his favorite place so far is Texas. “The place is awesome,” he said. “I want to go there.”

Ten-year-old Haley Young especially enjoyed Flat Stanley’s visit to Kentucky, where he attended a birthday party and helped celebrate the 100th day of school.

The Flat Stanley Project was started in 1995 by Dale Hubert, a third-grade teacher in Ontario, Canada. It is meant to facilitate letter-writing by schoolchildren as they document their activities with Flat Stanley.

The famous paper cutout has been photographed with many famous celebrities, politicians and actors. He even attended the Academy Awards with actor/director Clint Eastwood.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.