March 28, 2024
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County pupils’ pen pal heading to serve in Iraq

PRESQUE ISLE – Joleen Joles knows exactly what “out of the frying pan, into the fire” really means.

Weeks into cleanup efforts in Louisiana after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the former Presque Isle resident and second lieutenant in the U.S. Army learned that her unit, the 46th Engineer Battalion based in Fort Polk, La., is heading to southwestern Iraq in late October.

But despite the risk of being shot at while trying to complete construction projects in the region, Joles said she’s excited about her deployment and plans to share her experiences with a local group of middle schoolers.

Three classes of sixth-graders at Presque Isle Middle School adopted Joles as their pen pal while she serves in Iraq. The 70 pupils had a chance on Tuesday to meet with Joles, while she was in the area visiting her parents, Jerry and Ginny Joles, to talk with her about her job and what she expects to happen in Iraq.

Joles told pupils she will serve in a combat heavy battalion doing rebuilding efforts in Iraq. She said she’s in the only field in the Army in which woman can serve and be on the front lines. She described the armor on the heavy equipment they will use on construction projects, though pupils were most awed by the fact that Joles will carry an M-16 while on duty. That fact drew several hushed declarations of “awesome” from the preteen group.

Joles said before the talk with pupils that the most important thing she hoped sixth-graders would take away from corresponding with her is to get a better understanding of what’s going on in the world.

“I think they’re the least biased [minds] out there,” she said Tuesday. “For them to really understand the situation, it’s a plus.”

As for the pupils, teachers plan for them to get a lot out of the pen pal project. Sixth-grade teacher Peggy Kelley said the pupils will learn current events and incorporate learning from English and social studies as they write letters to Joles and other letters that will be distributed to other soldiers stationed in Iraq. Kelley and fellow teachers Elaine Hendrickson and Dan Madore plan to use the project to teach paragraph form, spelling, letter format and computer skills. Pupils will use the 25 laptop computers that they share with the other four sixth-grade classes to draft their letters. Return letters will be shared in class.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for students to incorporate schoolwork with real life,” Kelley said Tuesday. “I hope this will be an educational experience that they will cherish forever.”

The pupils are pretty sure that they will.

Sixth-grader Claire Cheney said she hopes to learn more about how it feels to be in a place where there’s a war. Classmate Landon Lovely said he wants to learn about how soldiers protect themselves if someone starts shooting at them, and fellow pupil Danielle Calhoun said she’s just plain excited about the project.

“I think it’s really cool,” Calhoun said. “I never met someone in the Army. … I haven’t interacted or asked what it’s like. It’s neat to feel what it’s like to be in their shoes.”

Correction: This article appeared on page B1 in the State and Coastal editions.

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