On Wednesday, February 28th, the students in Mrs. Gifford and Mrs. Smith's second-grade classes at Bellamy School had a special visit with U.S. Air Force Airman Caleb Royce as a culminating activity to a personal writing project!
Mr. Royce, a reading teacher at Bellamy, helped coordinate a special visit from his son, Caleb
Royce recently completed his Basic Military Training and Specialized technical training at
two separate Air Force bases in the state of Texas, USA.
Back in November, the students in both classrooms were introduced to Caleb and got to enter
into his military journey! Mr. Royce made a Google slide presentation about the process of
joining The Air Force and taught the students about Caleb’s personal experiences. Then in
December, the students each wrote a friendly letter to Caleb as part of a second-grade unit on
writing. The letters were mailed to Caleb and some of his fellow airmen at Lackland Air Force
Base, in San Antonio, TX.
As a follow-up, the students were shown a second Google slideshow about Mr. Royce’s trip to
the Basic Military Training Graduation Ceremony held in San Antonio, TX, at the beginning of
January. The students were shown maps, photos, and captions that described the traditions of
the United States Air Force, the history of The Alamo, and what it means to graduate from military
training. Each student was engaged and had many questions!
As a culminating activity, Caleb was invited to Bellamy to speak to the classes about his last
four months! He arrived in his military uniform and shared his journey through stories,
photographs, and a question-and-answer time. The students loved finally meeting Caleb after
only seeing him virtually! Caleb finished his visit by sharing the next part of his adventure, which will take him to the island of Okinawa, Japan! The students and teachers all enjoyed this
experience and will hopefully be able to keep in contact with Caleb as he travels across the
world!
