Walton Academy Students Pack Care for Deployed Troops

Kindergarten through eighth-grade students assembled packages and letters for service members deployed from Pontiac.

Updated on Nov. 11, 2026 in Secondary Education

Stack of tied kraft-paper boxes and a blank folded letter on a wooden table beside an olive-drab cloth, in soft window light. — Walton Charter Academy students assembled care packages and letters for service members deployed from Pontiac, with boxes expected to ship to a brigade in the Middle East in December. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Students at Walton Charter Academy assembled care packages using supplies collected through a schoolwide drive, and wrote thank-you letters and cards for service members. The effort is part of Project Gratitude, a program built by National Heritage Academies and launched last year.

Why it matters

The program is designed to put character-building skills such as respect, compassion and courage into practice, while connecting students to troops from their own community. The school is also creating a gratitude chain of student and staff messages to display throughout the building.

Project Gratitude produced more than 25,000 letters from National Heritage Academy students last year, and the program has now expanded to Walton Charter Academy's kindergarten through eighth-grade students. The final count of packages this year and the total supplies collected were not reported.

The players

Pedro Escabedo

An active duty Army service member and former Walton Charter Academy student who runs the Fraternos Charity Group, which has supported the school's students.

National Heritage Academies

The organization that built Project Gratitude, a program designed to connect students with service members through letters and care packages.

The details

Students used items from a list provided by Pedro Escabedo, an active duty Army service member and former Walton Charter Academy student, and by a teacher who is a veteran. Students in each classroom chose items from a cart to place into the boxes, which are expected to ship to a brigade in the Middle East in December.

Start of the school year: Fraternos Charity Group donated backpacks to 800 students.
Last year: Project Gratitude launched and students wrote more than 25,000 letters.
Last couple of weeks: Schoolwide supply drive collected items for care packages.
Wednesday: Escabedo visited classrooms and answered student questions.
December: Packages are expected to ship to a brigade in the Middle East.

Program Context

Walton Charter Academy's care-package effort is an extension of Project Gratitude, the National Heritage Academies initiative that launched last year and generated more than 25,000 student letters. The school is now adding physical supply drives and packages to the program's existing letter-writing model.

Families and community members in Pontiac can follow how the school's supply drive and packages support deployed troops from the area. Students and staff will also see the gratitude chain of messages displayed throughout the building as the effort continues.

The takeaway

Small, sustained efforts like classroom supply drives can give students a direct way to practice respect and compassion toward people serving far from home. Schools interested in similar programs can look to Project Gratitude's model of combining letters with tangible care packages.