Making class global

His tour of duty reads like that of the most courageous soldier.

At Kirkuk Air Base in Iraq, he survived six mortar attacks, three rocket-propelled grenade strikes and small arms fire. He traveled on classified missions in Africa, the details of which he will never reveal. He parachuted from a C-130 aircraft over Italy.

He returned to the United States last week, bringing with him gifts from his comrades -- military patches, paper and coin money, photographs. His home was destroyed during his military stint, and his formerly pristine tummy is now an off-white because of the grimy desert sand.

Although he declined to comment, it is clear that Mr. Penguin is thrilled to be back in Cape Girardeau. The 4-inch-tall black and white stuffed animal has spent the last six months in Iraq and 22 other countries as part of a Central Middle School science project.

"We felt very bad that we sent him into harm's way," said teacher Diana Valleroy. "And of all the places to send a penguin -- the desert!"

Students in Valleroy's and Kim Newman's sixth-grade classes at the middle school sent 40 stuffed animals to places around the world earlier this year to learn more about other cultures and geography.

The sixth-graders researched various animals and their natural habitats, or biomes, then wrote a report about them. They were then given small, plush animals, for which they would create cardboard-box biomes.

Postcards rolling in

The boxes were shipped out last October to "responsible adults" the students knew with letters requesting information about the geography and culture of each destination. The boxes were passed along from there to acquaintances around the world.

"I expected them to travel around a state or two and then come back," Valleroy said. "I never dreamed we'd go global."

Postcards have been rolling in all year from places as far away as Spain, Poland, Japan and Bulgaria. They're now on display near the school entrance.

"I think they've been on every continent now," said Valleroy.

A leather patch, engraved with "PENGUIN USAF," was shipped back with a camouflage hat and other souvenirs with Mr. Penguin. A compact disc with photographs of Mr. Penguin aboard aircraft, parachuting and posing at a U.S. Air Force base was part of the package.

Richie White, the 12-year-old owner of Mr. Penguin, initially sent his biome to his grandmother in Illinois, who then passed the stuffed animal along to a relative serving in Iraq.

"I think people in the military over there probably get lonely. They probably had fun taking Mr. Penguin's picture and stuff," Richie said.

A dozen of the animals have returned to the class now. Eleven-year-old Jill Bess used construction paper for grass, turquoise feathers for a lake and leather shoestrings for vines in Sparkle the Asian elephant's biome.

Sparkle traveled to Illinois, Michigan, Arkansas and the finally to the African country of Chad before returning to Cape Girardeau with a green beaded necklace around her.

Along the way, Sparkle mailed postcards to Jill's class recording information about her international journey. From Illinois, she wrote about the grass being too short to eat. From Africa, Sparkles wrote about a native flowering plant named after her species, the elephant tree.

"She visited a lot of places all over the world," said Jill. "It's been a very good project and really helped us learn about different habitats."

Rodney the Rhino returned from Germany and Spain dressed in a monogrammed denim suit. His postcards came back written in German and had to be translated.

His 12-year-old owner, Nina Scheibe, originally mailed Rodney to her grandmother in California, who sent him to her other grandmother in Germany who sent him to a friend living on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza.

Rhino's Christmas in Wales

The little gray rhino spent Christmas in south Wales. He came back with a variety of small gifts, from Californian sea shells to a Wales pine cone.

"This was so much more fun than boring old worksheets," said Scheibe. "It was really, really interesting. I loved it."

Valleroy got the idea for the project from a summer institute for teachers last year. Most of the small, plush animals were garage sale finds.

"We don't always get to see what's outside our comfort zone," she said. "This project had a whole lot of culture going on."

Valleroy hopes to continue the project with students next year but isn't sure the school will have the funds to do so. The school has applied for a grant to help cover the cost of mailing the biomes, but there is no guarantee that money will be secured.

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128