This Valentine’s Day is going to mean more than just sweets and kisses for students at the Success Academy, 330 Crown Street in Crown Heights.
Scholars in Ms. Allison Turck’s 4th Grade class are thanking Lieutenant Joseph Turck, Ms. Turck’s brother, for his service in the military through Valentine’s Day cards. The students have been writing to the active serviceman since the beginning of the school year and have formed an intimate bond.
The students in Ms. Turck’s class originally found out about Joseph through a special incentive after over-achieving in one of their lessons. The students got the opportunity to ask their teacher 20 questions about her life and quickly stumbled upon Joseph serving in Afghanistan. When they pressed for more answers regarding Joseph’s military duty, Allison offered her class the opportunity to write to her brother for his birthday, which was in October, with all of their questions.
“First I started talking about how he went to college and then they were like, ‘what does he do there?’ Then I had to explain that he was majoring in International Studies but was also training for the military and he did ROTC there [Syracuse University]. Things got into that and what he’s doing now, and the majority of the questions they ended up asking were about him,” said Ms. Turck.
After writing Lt. Turck, the students received their first letter back right before Thanksgiving that included a letter addressed to the entire class and a certificate with a flag enclosed. The certificate stated that the flag was flown in their honor during a mission, which caused some of the girls in the class to cry. Joseph also shared some words of advice to the students, many of who showed signs of future military service.
“Some of you told me you want to be in the Army when you grow up. The best soldiers are smart, healthy, and good teammates. Make sure you do well in school, stay active, and are nice to everyone around you,” were Lt. Turck’s words to the young scholars.
The 26-year-old First Lieutenant for the U.S. Army is a Chief Intelligence Officer, who specializes in military aviation and oversees black hawk helicopter missions. He is in his first active tour which started in early August and will see him home by this May. This is also Ms. Turck’s first year as lead teacher at Success Academy and hopes to continue having her students make a connection with active service military men and women.
“I think that even if my brother is overseas or not overseas, it is so important for our scholars to understand what it means to be a citizen of the United States and have a sense of pride for living in the United States. A lot of my children come from families that are immigrants, Crown Heights has a huge West Indies population, so a lot of the children’s families come from Jamaica or Trinidad. So they kind of know how living here in the United States is important and then they are learning what it means to be a good citizen, what you can do to help others, and they joy they get from little acts of kindness like this has a real effect on other people,” said Ms. Turck.
The letters were sent out last week and were filled with words of gratitude and love. One letter said, “Dear Joe, even though you don’t see your family you should know that we’re still your family-we love you. Another student’s letter highlighted the ability of the 26-year-old to sacrifice his life, “Thank you so much for everything — for risking your life and making our country safe — we kinds in the country are so thankful.”
Some of the students have even started to think of the military as a career opportunity.
“They are definitely fascinated by it [military service] and they see it as a career option for themselves. Especially because a lot of them didn’t know that you could go to college and be in the military at the same time. It definitely opens more doors,” said Ms. Turck.
The class is currently working on getting a flagpole in order to hang their honorary flag in the room to remind them of the duty Joseph Turck and so many other Americans have taken up to protect the rights of U.S. citizens.
