Potter Students Offer Soldiers 'A Cup of Joe'

The further a person is away from home, the more important the simple things in life become, and being assigned sometimes half a world away protecting the interests of the country sometimes means a familiar cup of coffee brings back memories.

Potter-Dix High School students recently completed a project inspired by a visit to a coffee shop. Jennifer Thomas, teacher of the high school's elective Community Involvement Class, said she visited a coffee shop and came away with a program called "Cup of Joe for a Joe" where patrons could purchase a cup of coffee for servicemen and women stationed around the country and overseas. The coffee is purchased online and recipients receive a note of thanks as well as a credit on their coffee account.

The thank-you note reads "Thank you for your service, enjoy this cup of coffee from the students at Potter-Dix High School in Potter, Nebraska."

"We have raised $100 and have purchased 40 cups of coffee," Thomas said. "When the soldiers reply with a thank-you, we are given the basic location of their service, the soldiers then have the choice to elaborate with details about their job, years of service, hometown and many respond with comments if they have been to Nebraska or have life in Nebraska."

The emailed thank-yous were assembled into a bulletin board to show the community the location of the soldiers contacted.

"It feels good to know that we found a simple way to give back to our troops who fight for our freedom," said Potter-Dix senior Jessica Gingerich. "The experience was fun, and it always feels great to do a good deed for someone. It doesn't matter if the task is big or small. A small act of kindness from us can mean the world to them."

Junior Mikayla Cook also enjoyed the experience. She said she enjoyed reading the replies and the opportunity to give back for everything they do. Sophomore Jake Brown said he hopes other students do similar projects.

"After doing this project, I would definitely recommend this for future classes," he said.

Sophomore Kyle Evans said the project could make soldiers feel more positive and make for a better day. Junior Logan Lee said he likes the idea of reaching out to someone from the US who is serving us in another country.

The Community Involvement Class is for grades 9-12.This year, there are nine students in the class. The goal of this year's class is to continue programs started by previous classes. The class is also focused on projects for the community and the school. Past classes have programs including Daycare Mentoring and Art Buddies.

Three days a week the students take turns going to the daycare (that is located in our school building) and mentoring the preschoolers.  Then, one day a week (Thursdays) the preschoolers come to the Art room for an art lesson known as "Art Buddies".  Then the fifth day of the week, or when they were not mentoring in the daycare, the students work on a project for the community or beyond the community.

This year, students made wood displays for the local flea market to help decorate the store windows. The coat-rack structures were made in various sizes and colors. The soldier door hangers is another project done while not mentoring in the daycare.