Pay it forward

A year or so ago I was chatting on line with a woman who teaches junior high science in Ohio. She mentioned she was teaching a section on climate and talking about global warming. I asked her what she was saying about Alaska. "What does Alaska have to do with it," she asked. She had been focusing on the rain forest. Oh, my dear, we are on the front lines. Since that time I have been sending her articles about Alaska and climate change and she has told me she prints them and shares them with her students and that they respond to "her friend in Alaska." Earlier this year I received the following email from her:

Hi........
I have to tell you something that will make you smile. Right after we came back from Christmas break.....early January.......the kids and I did global warming. I have all the articles you sent me printed and in a file.......I read them a couple of those...especially the one about the polar bears..... Being kids at this age.....they were all irate and wanted something done so I told them.......then write to people in power.....tell them....make YOUR voice known (never thinking it would go any futher). Yesterday our English teacher asked me.......what did you do to the kids?...........I had no idea until she explained. It seems that the kids had to write a persuasive letter for her class, something they were going to actually mail someone. 88 of them out of 120 was writing to congressmen and a few to the president about global warming...... Smile my friend......what you sent me touched people and you didn't even know.........suz