Newsroom

President Barack Obama gave Dare Elementary School (DES) student Samantha Wilson some assistance with her recent homework assignment with the Flat Stanley project. The Flat Stanley project is a literacy and letter-writing initiative based on the main character in the Flat Stanley book series by Jeff Brown. First grade students were asked to select a friend or family member anywhere in the world to serve as a “host family” for Flat Stanley. Samantha chose President Obama to host Flat Stanley because he travels so much. Samantha’s sister, Kalynne encouraged her to find a backup host family but Samantha refused and remained confident that the President would not let her down.

 

Finally a large envelope arrived with the White House imprint. Samantha found Flat Stanley, now dressed in business attire with a tie, official photos of President Obama, the first family and first dog, Bo and a letter on the White House stationary. The president was happy to have had the opportunity to host Flat Stanley and reported that, “he worked hard, listened carefully, and had a lot of fun!” The letter further describes that Flat Stanley joined the President during his daily activities which included meetings in the Oval Office, seeing the beautiful rooms and art in the East Wing, meeting the First Lady and daughters Sasha and Malia and playing with Bo. The letter continued stating “He (Flat Stanley) told me how surprised he was by the important role reading, writing, math and science all play in my job. As a lifelong student, and as President, I use these skills every day. I can tell you with certainty that whatever path you choose, the things you learn in school and the extra reading and exploration you do after school will always be helpful to you in your life.” It concluded with the President urging Samantha to bring a great thirst for knowledge to her classroom and passion for serving others in her community.

 

When asked if she was surprised that Flat Stanley was returned, Samantha said, “no ... I knew President Obama would send him back home.” Her Flat Stanley is now on display at Dare Elementary School with all the other Flat Stanley’s who had equally wonderful visits and adventures.