The holidays are a time to reconnect with loved ones and enjoy spending time at home with family, but for many of the nation’s soldiers and sailors, this is not always possible. Thomas Hunter Middle School fifth grade English teacher Tracy Whitehurst recognizes this and decided to get her students involved. 

This November, the fifth graders at THMS are sending postcards to sailors who have been deployed on the USS Abraham Lincoln since April and who will not be home in time to celebrate the holiday season with their families. The sailors were scheduled to return from deployment Halloween of this year. This date was changed to Thanksgiving and has since changed to February 2020, completely missing the holiday season. 

Whitehurst was inspired by THMS Instructional Assistant Debbie Lowe, whose son-in-law, Jared McCall, is currently deployed on the ship. “Debbie asked if my English class wanted to write letters to the sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln,” said Whitehurst. “We we...