Assumption-Davenport students cherish special delivery

By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger

DAVENPORT — Following Hurricane Harvey’s wrath, Assumption High School teacher Jan Luton thought that having her students write letters to impacted students at another high school could give them some cheer and show that others care.

Luton asked her students, about 100 of them, to write letters to students at St. Pius X High School in Houston. Her husband Tom helped find the school through connections in Houston. “I said, ‘Give me a name and address and I’ll take a chance and do this,’” Jan said. “To my delight, I received a package in the mail (Nov. 13) with 88 letters back.” On Nov. 14 she passed out the letters to her students. Although not everyone received a letter back, those who did shared their letters with fellow students.

Karly Britt had written in her letter about the money that Assumption High School students collected for hurricane relief during a football game. She received a letter back from Josh Chadbourne who said he was very appreciative of the community’s help. Although there is a long distance between Texas and Iowa, he said he liked the help that Iowans were providing.

Joy Huang wrote about choir and music. Her letter from Tayia talked about that student’s love of music, too. Both girls also sing at Sunday Masses and in the school choir. Logan Klemme wrote about what he had seen on the news and asked how bad the damage was and how it had affected the school. Chinwe Akuechiama wrote back that the school did not have much damage and that many of the students’ homes were spared as well. “The city came together,” she said in her letter to Logan. She added that Houston is not much different from Iowa in that they grow corn, too.

Luton said she will leave it up to her students to decide whether they would like to continue correspondence with the students in Houston