'Flat Stanley' goes to Super Bowl

"Flat Stanley is a character from a book by Jeff Brown," explained Yaeger. "The basic idea is that Stanley is flattened when a bulletin board falls on him, making him paper-thin, thus allowing him to travel anywhere in the world inside an envelope."

Yaeger said her classes have been participating in a literacy program based on Flat Stanley. "It's a great program because it's whole literacy-reading, writing, geography, social studies-we're covering elements from all of those areas of study with this project," said Yaeger. "What we've done is asked students to bring in addresses of far-away friends and relatives. Most families have participated, and so the students have sent 'Flat Stanleys' all over the country and around the world. Letters accompanying Stanley ask the recipients to write back and tell about what Stanley has experienced in their part of the country or world."

One of the Flat Stanleys made it to the Super Bowl this year, where he was quite popular with news media from around the world. Student Olivia Danley sent a Flat Stanley to her uncle, Steve Huntington, of Two Rivers. Huntington then took Stanley with him to the big game. Other Stanleys have traveled as far as Alaska, Canada, and Ireland.

"We learned a lot about different states," said student Abby Oskey. "It's a very fun project."

"The kids wanted to make sure we checked the mail every day to see if any of their Flat Stanleys had returned," stated Yaeger. "They are hoping first graders get to do it next year as well. It's been a great experience for me and the students."