by Charles C. Bonniwell
Young grade school kids at the Good Shepherd School at 6th Avenue and Elizabeth Street wanted to show their appreciation to American troops in Afghanistan over the holidays. Jan Greer, who helps with the enrichment program at the school, came up with the idea of a banner with medals and stars and words of encouragement from the kids.
The idea took off with 1st grade teacher Katie Armatas and her assistant Jennifer Fisher helping the kids who are in kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades at the school come up with ideas and concepts. The kids got to work and the banner began to take shape under the title “Thank You For All You Have Done.” The 1st and 2nd graders wrote personal messages to the troops contained in stars on the banner while the kindergartners did the coloring for the medals.
Grace Farrell a 2nd grader wrote: “Dear Veteran: Thank you for giving the United States freedom. And thank you for protecting the community. You guys are so amazing.”
First grader Gavin Scarth in turn told the veterans: “Thank you for protecting us. Thank you for protecting our country [and] flag.”
After finishing up their work the kids hung their banner up in the hallway for all to see. But the kids intended the actual troops in Afghanistan to receive their thanks and Kabul was thousands of miles away. The Veterans Administration and the National Guard were unresponsive to calls from the school. Then Connie Thomas, who volunteers at the school to help kids read, had an idea. A family friend is Denver Police Lieutenant Kenny Chavez who is a Colonel in the Colorado Army National Guard and was about to leave for his fourth year-long tour of duty in Afghanistan at age 58.
Colonel Chavez said he would be honored to be the courier for the kids and volunteered to meet and thank them for their message of encouragement to the troops. On the morning of Tuesday, December 17, 2013, the kids were thrilled to gather and meet Colonel Chavez in full dress uniform in the hallway of Good Shepherd School underneath their banner.
He promised the kids not only to take the banner to Afghanistan, but to hang it proudly in the regimental dining hall for all to see and be admired. He anticipated that the troops would likely want to think of ways to show their appreciation to the children of the Good Shepherd School in the near future.
First grade assistant Jennifer Fisher reflected after Colonel Chavez had left carrying the banner properly packaged, “The kids were just overjoyed to meet the Colonel. For them he was a real life hero and coming to their school will be a day they will never forget.”
Good Shepherd School was founded in 1924 and is run by the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver. It is located at 620 Elizabeth Street in Denver and has classes from preschool through 8th grade in traditional and Montessori formats.