Roosevelt has long been an institution that has praised the merits of service and the potential for young people to become more involved as humanitarians in the world outside of our school doors. Any effort can be significant, but those that reach beyond Roosevelt, or better yet, beyond the boundaries of our country, display an obvious selflessness and passion to help others: close-up on Project Vietnam.

The history of Project Vietnam began with the class officers of 2011 and their interest in an undertaking at the KSU Wick Poetry Center called SpeakPeace. Through SpeakPeace, artwork done by children was made available to the U.S. via the Internet, and people of all ages were encouraged to write poetry in response (the artwork and poetry have been published in a book, also titled SpeakPeace). Last spring, a representative from the poetry center came to talk to the class officers and show them the children’s artwork. The officers were instantly drawn to the idea of spending their class fund-raising towards a cause other than prom and other functions only limited to the school. Thus, it was decided that an outreach project would be a good idea, even more so if it could help involve the whole school.

In May 2009, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the KSU shootings, the class of 2011 hosted a Vietnam War veteran, Dr. John Fisher. He spoke to the student body about his own personal experiences and how Roosevelt could improve the educational system of Vietnam (a 3rd world nation whose population is still plagued today by extreme poverty). It was from this assembly that an interest group was formed - serving as the spark for many potential outreach efforts by the group in the future.

The first school-wide activity enacted by the group emphasized forming a longstanding relationship with the students in Vietnam: a school supplies drive, organized in the fall of this year. These supplies were eventually distributed to schools in Vietnam by Project Vietnam’s advisor, Beth Schluep and the veterans who accompanied her during the eighteen-day visit to the country.

“It was an amazing experience on all levels. Vietnam is a beautiful country. The Vietnamese are happy, loving people and have left the “American War” – as they call it – behind. … [Also,] the young people are very interested in our culture and know much about our pop culture; music, movies, etc. … The teachers, administrators, and students [at the three schools we visited] were excited to host us and show us their classrooms and had prepared a program and refreshments,” Schleup said.

Project Vietnam is in the works for future projects, including plan to set up pen pal relations with the young students at the KIM DONG eleementary school in the Phu Ninh district, Quang Name province, and to hopefully build a library costing about $5,000. Currently, juniors Maia O’ Meara and Sophie Kruse are serving as the Projects Vietnam chairs (the class of 2011 officers are still substantially involved, but have decided to pass down major leadership to younger students to ensure that the group will continue to make progress). Over 20 students have expressed interest about the group so far and attend the weekly meetings every Wednesday. It seems modernity at Roosevelt is abound as our student body embarks on a process of globalization, and reaches across into a classroom a world away to offer a helping hand.