LACEY, Wash. -- Dozens of deployed mothers and fathers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord can expect a special care package in the mail soon.
Fifty students from Lacey's Seven Oaks Elementary are sending DVDs to their parents in Afghanistan.
The DVDs include personal messages and video of the students reading books to their parents.
"We read a book so he could remember us," said fourth grader Shilyce Jackson.
The recordings also include personal messages from the children.
"When he was in Iraq, he read a book on DVD so it kind of means a lot because it meant a lot to us," said sixth grader Lillian Sayan-Springer.
Principal Ron Sisson and his wife got the idea after volunteering on a USO program where soldiers were recorded reading books to their children on DVDs before being deployed.
He thought the parents would enjoy the DVDs as much as the kids.
Sisson went to the PTA to get money to pay for the books and the postage, but not just because he's the principal.
His son is in the Air Force and could be sent overseas soon.
"For us to have an opportunity to give back and be able to empathize with where kids and families are themselves," said Sisson. "It was more motivational for me to see if we could implement something like that."
Sisson says about 20 percent of students at Seven Oaks come from military families.
To add a comment, please register or login.