Students at Trinity Christian Academy in Addison adopt soldiers, welcome them home
(Addison) May 24, 2012 – With Memorial Day quickly approaching, it is important to honor and show our appreciation for the men and women making great sacrifices while serving our country.
This school year, Trinity Christian Academy adopted four alumni who are currently in service: Dean Driskill ’92, Adam Sims ’04, Baker Flagg ’06 and Josiah Johns ’08. Thankfully, all four returned home safely this spring.
The TCA community has shown overwhelming support for the deployed alumni and military troops. While they were away, some of the TCA Lower School classes adopted these four soldiers and showered them with prayer and support.
Students from Katherine Standard’s first-grade class adopted Dean Driskill ’92. The students prayed faithfully for him and sent letters and packages to show their appreciation and admiration. “Several of the students in this class have family members who have served our country through the military,” said Mrs. Standard, “and this opportunity also gave them a chance to share about their own loved ones who have made such a lasting impact in the lives of so many.”
Dean kept in touch with the students and was appreciative of their support. He even had an American flag flown in combat over Afghanistan in honor of TCA. The flag and commemorative plaque were then mailed to TCA and presented to the Lower School students by Lower School Head Rod Morris on KTCA. It serves as a reminder of our faithful military heroes.
Students in Carol Pond’s morning and afternoon kindergarten classes adopted Baker Flagg ’06. This was especially meaningful to Mrs. Pond, as Baker had once been a kindergarten student in her class. The kids made a special book for Baker that included a photo of each child, along with pictures they had drawn and prayers they had written for Baker. The book was sent to Baker along with a care package of goodies.
When Baker returned home in April, he visited TCA and Mrs. Pond’s class. He brought the book back and showed the kids how worn the binding was because he had spent so much time reading it and looking at the photos. In fact, he knew every student by name because he had spent time reading their notes and praying for them.
Didi Henderson’s first-grade class adopted Adam Sims ’04.
The class put together a book filled with encouraging letters, colorful illustrations and a class picture.
Students also collected favorite items for Adam and his platoon and sent a large care package to the soldiers. Class members prayed diligently for Adam and his wife, Leslie. 
Adam sent a sweet letter to the class, thanking students for their support, encouragement and prayers and also offering prayers for each child. Adam also made a classroom visit in May after he had returned home from Afghanistan. He and Leslie visited with the children, answered lots of questions and prayed with them.
Nancy Cunningham’s second-grade class adopted Josiah Johns ’06. Students wrote letters, sent photos and put together care packages for Josiah and his fellow soldiers.
Josiah was also able to return to TCA and visit with his adopted class when he returned home. He had lunch with the second-graders in the cafeteria, played on the playground with them and spent time in the classroom visiting and answering questions.
In addition to these four Lower School classes, other members of the TCA community also offered support, prayer and gifts to deployed alumni. Jan Marshall’s seventh-grade History/English students wrote cards and letters and sent care packages filled with dried fruit, beef jerky, powdered drink mixes, magazines and hand warmers to Adam and his platoon.
Third-grade TCA parent Kelly Morton organized a book drive in conjunction with the USO program United Through Reading, where children’s books are sent to deployed servicemen, who are then videoed reading the books. The books and DVD recordings are then sent to the servicemen’s children. More than 40 books were collected by this group of third-grade girls and sent to the USO program. The girls also made banners, cards and packages for our TCA soldiers and other deployed servicemen.
TCA Director of Alumni Julie Schaeffer has seen an overwhelming response of love and appreciation for these alumni and has received boxes and boxes of donations, which were shipped to them all during their deployments.
While we are all so thankful that our deployed alumni have returned home safely, our continued prayers go out for the many others who are still in harm’s way serving our country.
Baker Flagg ’06 is scheduled to be deployed again to Afghanistan in June, and three more TCA alumni have since deployed, all to Afghanistan: Tyler Scarborough ’03, Patrick Martinez ’04 and Carlton Wilkerson ’04.
Written by Joy Konstans, director of communications for Trinity Christian Academy
This piece was adapted from an upcoming article in the school’s magazine, Trinity Today. For more information on Trinity Christian Academy, please visit trinitychristian.org. To find out more about supporting TCA’s deployed alumni, contact Julie Schaeffer at jschaeffer@trinitychristian.org.
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