Students of Powell Christian School enthusiastically received their good friend Flat Stanley after his multiple trips to Gov. Mark Gordon, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso and even a trip to Australia.  

“I think he was flattened somehow. I can’t remember how. His brother took a bicycle pump and pumped him up then he got down to normal size again,” student Kendall Kolocney said about the book’s plot. 

Kindergarten through second grade teacher Christy Muecke said the project started in October with a history lesson on Mount Rushmore. In their studies of the famous national monument the students read the Flat Stanley book “The Mount Rushmore Calamity,” by Jeff Brown. Muecke then had students decorate their own Flat Stanleys and send them to far off places.

Flat Stanleys are still coming in which Muecke said adds to student excitement and keeps the fun going. 

“We follow that up by doing the project of addressing envelopes and sending them to loved ones or famous people,” Muecke said. 

The letter from Gov. Gordon featured a variety of photos showing Flat Stanley accompanying the governor and his wife on dog walks and throughout the governor’s mansion.

Other students sent their Flat Stanleys to friends and family. Letters went as far  as Australia while another one brought back a cactus from Arizona, yet another Flat Stanley enjoyed some time in California.  

Muecke said the project taught students lessons on a variety of subjects including, reading, writing, geography, history and art. 

“Writing letters is kind of a lost art anymore, because we do so much email, and we don’t have that skill of writing anymore,” Muecke said. “So it was really fun for the kids to do that with family members and other people too.”