Bassett students support troops one letter at a time

Sgt. Chad T. Jones
USASMA Public Affairs

Sgt. Maj. Dana Taylor, U.S. Army Sergeant’s Major Academy Volunteer Program coordinator, speaks to a group of Bassett Middle School 8th graders who are participating in the national “Letters to the Front” letter-writing contest. Taylor talked to the students about the contest that asks students to write a 100-200 word letter to deployed servicemembers during her recent visit to the school.

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Armed with pens, dictionaries and reams of paper, the Army’s newest volunteers won’t be asked to pull guard duty, eat a beef steak Meal Ready to Eat or even deploy.

Instead these new-age defenders of freedom will do their part by sending messages of cheer and good will to the thousands of servicemembers stationed throughout the world as part of a nationwide letter-writing campaign.

The front line of this campaign can be found at the Bassett Middle School in El Paso where 25 students in Bill Sutton’s English and reading classes are teaming up with the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy for the “Letters to the Front” letter-writing contest.

For six years, this contest has encouraged middle school students throughout the country to generate letters of support for the troops serving overseas, Sutton said.

Bassett students began their letter writing mission in September “but things were going slow,” because the students had a hard time motivating themselves to write, Sutton said.

So, in an attempt to rally the troops, Sutton called on Sgt. Maj. Dana Taylor, USASMA, to raise the students’ morale and get the program back on track.

“You all are on a mission,” said Taylor, who is the Volunteer Program coordinator at the academy.
Taylor explained to the students how the letters they send help deployed Soldiers, who are away from their families and the comforts of home.

“We don’t have a classroom to hang out with each other like you do. So we can read all the books and watch TV, but that stuff gets boring. It’s your letters that motivate us,” Taylor said.

Taylor told the students to include pictures and anything else they can think of in their 100- to 200-word letter to help the Soldiers get to know the students.

She also reassured them that even though the task might seem hard at first, it will get easier with practice, which is a lesson Taylor hopes the students can use throughout their academic careers.

“Start writing for your success and you shouldn’t even care how it sounds at first,” she said, “because if you work more, it will get better.”

Writing a better letter to the Soldiers deployed around the globe will also end up being a big help to the students and their school, Sutton said.

The Bassett students are hoping to write 100 letters before the Veterans Day deadline, so they can receive a free t-shirt and earn the school an “Award of Recognition.” The winner of the worldwide competition will win a $3,000 scholarship.

Once Taylor finished laying down the tasks, conditions and standards for the contest, it was time for the troops to learn about their new sergeant major.

Each student got to ask Taylor a question about life in the Army. That interaction is important to the contest because it’s another way to help the students get involved with the program, Sutton said.

It also gave Taylor a chance to spread the Army story to the next generation of Soldiers.

“I love being a Soldier,” Taylor said. “Because it means I’m serving my country.”

Taylor finished her morale visit with the students by pledging to help them meet their goal. Even if they don’t write 100 letters, she knows this mission will still be a success.

“This is such a great program because it reaches so many people,” Taylor said. “It helps teach children how to write, and it helps Soldiers in the field know somebody cares about them.”