Flat Stanley and Dreams

The email from Ms. Hoy of Westchester Elementary School in Florida read:

My class is a second grade class who is studying basic geography with the help of a character known as Flat Stanley. They colored Flat Stanley’s and sent him to places around the country but we do a virtual Stanley around the internet. Would you consider taking a Flat Stanley on your trip to Everest? He’s just paper.

I knew of Mr. Stanley but did a quick search to make sure he was not a life-sized paper piece or weighed more than my oxygen bottles or something else. Here is what I learned.

Flat Stanley has his own website and quite a upbringing. from his site:

In 1995, Dale Hubert, a Grade 3 teacher in London, Ontario, Canada, began the Flat Stanley Project. He invited other teachers to take part by hosting flat visitors and to encourage their students to write their own Flat Stanley journals. Jeff Brown, the author of the Flat Stanley book, was delighted with the Flat Stanley Project as it renewed interest in the book which resulted in a sequel almost 40 years after the original. Jeff Brown stayed with Dale when he visited Wilfrid Jury Public School in London, Ontario as a guest author and hosted Dale and his family for a wonderful two week holiday in Connecticut. Dale and Jeff remained good friends until Jeff’s death in 2003.

So a new part of the adventure is born. In addition to receiving Flat Stanley in the mail today, I received 19 handwritten letters from

• Gabrielle
• Ayah
• Ian
• Nicole
• Johann
• Ashlee
• Aleezah
• Joshua
• Jamie
• Mason
• Jacob
• Dustin
• Ethan
• Dylan
• Keanna
• Nageline
• Joey
• Jaheim
• Alley

Each letter wished me good luck, asked me not to get sick and take care of Flat Stanley. I will do my on all counts!

It is funny where inspiration arises. Each of these students were inspired by the Flat Stanley project and now are excited to watch his climb of the world’s highest mountain. For me, I am inspired by the courage of everyone impacted by Alzheimer’s – the individuals, their caregivers, researchers desperately trying to find a cure …

Climb On!

Alan