TMS teacher recognized for Marine Parents work
Templeton Middle School seventh-grade communication arts teacher Patricia Fry learned recently that she will receive the president's Volunteer Service Award Silver Medal for volunteering 250-499 hours with Marine Parents.
She was somewhat surprised, she said.
"Our founder said something to me about submitting volunteers' names, but I was unaware of the level," she told the Sun in a recent interview.
The silver medal is the third highest award of the four awards - Lifetime, Gold, Silver and Bronze - the presidential panel offers.
In a letter to Fry, the President's Council wrote: "This award recognizes your dedication to volunteer service and signifies that you have served your community and your country with distinction. Through your volunteer efforts, you are demonstrating values that make our nation strong and you are helping to build a culture of citizenship, service and responsibility in America."
Fry began her volunteer work with Marine Parents when the U.S. Marines Corps deployed her son, Eric, to Iraq in February 2006.
Eric, now 22, joined the Marines the year before as a Menomonee Falls High School senior.
Patricia Fry does most of her volunteer work online, moderating the chat room at www.marinefamilies.com.
She also carries her passion into the classroom, where her students write letters to Marines stationed overseas.
She and her husband, John, then take the students' letters down to Marine Parents headquarters in Columbia, Mo., where they pack the letters into "care" packages for the Marines.
In fact, the couple spent their 29th wedding anniversary in Columbia doing just that.
"We celebrated by packing," she said.
She keeps copies of the letters, and the Marines' responses.
"I have a scrapbook full of them," she said.
Right now, she's looking for some community support for their efforts.
"We need help with postage," she said. "We need about $20,000 by Aug. 15, our next posting date."
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