Education travels outside the classroom

The students in the Ritzville third grade class had the unique experience of learning about culture, food and lifestyles of countries around the world, all because of a paper doll named Flat Stanley. With help from local farmer Mike Miller, Flat Stanley spent a month traveling around the world and helping the third grade class learn many lessons outside the classroom.

Flat Stanley is a popular children’s book character who begins as a normal boy before being flattened by his bulletin board while asleep. After being flattened, Flat Stanley uses his altered state to travel the world by being mailed to friends, solves mysteries and experiences life from a new perspective.

The Flat Stanley books are very popular with younger students, third grade teacher Jennifer Boness explained. When the class learned about Miller’s opportunity to travel to Asia, the students each made a Flat Stanley paper doll, voted on which ones they liked best and Miller traveled with the six dolls the class picked.

During a month long trip last November; Miller became the first farmer from the United States to participate in the US Wheat Associates 2012 Southeast Asia Crop Quality Tour. Traveling with a group of other representatives, Miller traveled to six countries and met with the majority of the Pacific Northwest’s wheat buyers.

Before Miller left on his trip, he visited the third grade class to do a presentation on trade. The students spent the lesson trading wheat, potatoes, hay and corn with their classmates with instruction from Miller.

“The kids would trade the items between groups, it was the coolest lesson for the kids. And it was the reason for the trip,” Boness said. “He (Miller) did an awesome job of beginning the journey.”

Miller began his trip on a family vacation in Hawaii and sent photos of Flat Stanley with his children back to the third grade. Boness said it helped the students become even more excited about the trip since they knew Miller’s son, Cooper, and enjoyed seeing him with Flat Stanley in another state.

From there, Miller took a photo of Flat Stanley next to the welcome signs in the respective country he traveled to, usually in the airport. He also asked citizens to pose with Flat Stanley, took photos of him with different landscapes and also with native foods. Flat Stanley also crashed multiple weddings and attended a graduation during the trip.

On an almost daily basis, Miller sent a photo to the classroom of Flat Stanley with a unique aspect of the country he was visiting. From there, Boness showed the class the photo and discussed the subject in the photo or the country.

Boness said the students did not have a written assignment for each country but instead would share views, opinions and facts about the country Miller had sent a photo from. Boness said the classroom discussions went to a higher level than she could have ever hoped as the students talked about culture and made accurate comparisons between lifestyles.

The students created a map of Miller’s journey, following his path by tacking up photos and drawing lines between countries. The students looked forward to the message and photo every day, and Boness said they were always excited to see Flat Stanley.

“We just kept getting information and it ended up a lot bigger than we ever thought it would be,” Boness said about the Flat Stanley project.

The majority of the students’ interests in the countries and cultures were based around food, weather and children. In his emails, Miller would explain a little about what he had learned about the country and what the popular things were for children.

“The kids wanted to know about the weather and about the food. Food was probably the biggest,” Boness explained. “We talked a lot about the kids; there’s not a lot of differences.”

The biggest food highlight for the students was when Miller ate fried worms, taking an extra bite specifically for the students.

When the students were asked what the best part of the project was, Dakota Killian replied, “The Flat Stanley project was awesome because Mr. Miller ate fried worms just for us!! Fried worms must be yucky!”

After Miller returned from his trip, he visited the third grade classroom again and brought souvenirs for the students. Each student received their own pair of chopsticks, and had the opportunity to try dried mangos and squid flakes.

Miller also brought back currency from different countries he visited during the journey. For Jacob Carruth and Baylor Moore, learning about the money was the best part of the project and both students especially liked the bill with the dragon on it.

During his presentation at the Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce’s general membership meeting, Miller said Flat Stanley became popular with the group he was traveling with from day one. For other members in the group, Miller explained Flat Stanley “became a symbol to open up doors with dignitaries.”

A researcher traveling with Miller during the trip also began sending photos of Flat Stanley back to a sixth grade class in Turkey.

“It’s kind of neat to make that connection, and the kids got a charge out of it,” Miller said at the meeting.

Flat Stanley serves as a modern day pen pal to allow students to not only send a letter out, but also a character. The popularity and worldwide knowledge of who Flat Stanley is, helps allow students and adults alike to have a more natural and relaxed conversation.

“The project had people letting their guard down. And it added humor,” Boness said.

All of the third grade students hope to have the opportunity to participate in the Flat Stanley project again. Boness explained that while the students were required to read one Flat Stanley book as part of the project, many of the students chose to read more books on their own time because of the interaction with Flat Stanley through Miller’s journey.

Flat Stanley: Student Essays

By Collette Nichols

The Flat Stanley project was awesome because Mr. Miller brought back dried mangos. I liked how Mr. Miller shared the mangos with the class. The third graders liked the mangos the most.

By Sydney Kinch

The Flat Stanley project was awesome because my Flat Stanley crashed a Philippine wedding. When Mr. Miller told us about the bride and groom’s reaction, we were amazed that they let Mr. Miller take pictures. Mr. Miller and Flat Stanley got to meet lots of people at the wedding.

By Owen Telecky

The Flat Stanley project was awesome because the Chop Sticks that Mr. Miller brought back were cool. The Chop Sticks were different because they were square.

By Kaiden Bell

The Flat Stanley project was awesome because I saw different people around the world on videos and pictures.

By Lauren Miller

My favorite part of The Flat Stanley project was getting all the E-mails and the pictures from different countries. I think it was very interesting! Most of all, I like the video that Mr. Miller sent! I hope we can do something like this soon!

By Samantha Pina

My favorit part of the Flat Stanley project was when Mr. Miller brought the mangos. They were good because they had sugar and juice in them.

By Garrett Roettger

The Flat Stanley project was awesome because my Flat Stanley was in a video with a class. My Flat Stanley was the only one in the video. My Flat Stanley was in a lot of pictures.

By Colby Tracy

My favorite part of the Flat Stanley project was the picture of the snake soup. I want to try the snake soup.

By Dakota Killian

The Flat Stanley project was awesome because Mr. Miller ate fried worms just for us!! Fried worms must be yucky!

By Brett Anthony

The Flat Stanley project was awesome because we got to try dried up mangos. They were amazing!

By Jacob Carruth

The Flat Stanley project was awesome because Mr. Miller brought money back from different countries. This was very interesting. I liked the paper money with the dragon on it.

By AlaXandera Pray

My favorite part of the Flat Stanley project was the Hawaii pictures from where Flat Stanley and Mr. Miller had taken them. They surfed and a crab pinched Stanley and would not let go.

By Baylor Moore

My favorite part of the Flat Stanley project was the money from different countries. My favorite money was the bill with the dragon. It was cool to see different money from different countries.

By Mireya Huitron

The Stanley Project was awesome because Stanley crashed a wedding. On the trip, Mr. Miller sent us some pictures. I thought it looked kind of fun because I love weddings! The Stanley project was fun!!!

By Landon Umland

The Flat Stanley Project was awesome because Mr. Miller brought back chopsticks. The chopsticks were cool. The night of the presentation, I had noodles so I used the chopsticks.

By Nathan Kropushek

My favorite part of the Flat Stanley Project was when Mr. Miller brought back chopsticks. I used the chopsticks for Skittles and trust me, it was hard!

By Jessica Ruse

The Flat Stanley project was awesome because Mr. Miller brought back squid flakes. It was fun because everyone was grossed out. They didn’t even taste that good, but they were awesome to try. It was nice of him to share.

By Braden Verhey

My favorite part of the Flat Stanley project was when Mr. Miller shared the squid flakes. I didn’t try them because I thought they would be too “squidy!”

By Bronc Hutsell

My favorite part of the Flat Stanley project was the pictures. I liked the Hawaii ones.