Kayser responds to student questions

MOSES LAKE o Lt. Ben Kayser is receiving a lot of love this Valentine's Day.

Lakeview Terrace Elementary School students are sending Valentine's Day cards to Kayser, a soldier deployed in Iraq and a former Lakeview student.

Fourth grade teacher Gayle Talbot gave students an opportunity to make cards Thursday in the classroom. Cards and gifts from staff and students are being mailed to Kayser.

iAs his school secretary, I am extremely proud to say he attended our school,i said the school secretary Linda Bishop. iHe received a wonderful education at Lakeview Terrace Elementary and went on to earn his master's degree. He was always a role model for other students, a great leader, and a joy to our faculty.i

Bishop continues working as a secretary for the district after 15 years. In addition to helping coordinate the card-making, Bishop encouraged students to write letters to him before Thanksgiving. In the letters students asked many questions of Kayser, and he answered them all.

One student asked, iWhat kind of food do you eat?i and Kayser responded, iCafeteria food, like the food you eat during lunch at Lakeview.i

Another student asked, iIs it true you have to use a helmet as a pillow?i to which Kayser said, iI have done that before, but not on a regular basis.i

iThis communication was a valuable writing project, as students not only learned a great deal about current events but also about patriotism and the sacrifices made by our volunteer soldiers,i Bishop said.

The cards students made for Valentine's Day included new questions and comments about the changes happening in Moses Lake.

Student Danielle Erickson told Kayser about the new ice skating rink coming into town.

iBut it may look kind of funny in the summer when you are wearing a big coat on, jeans and gloves on,i Erickson wrote.

Darby O'Brien told him about the downtown remodel, including the clock tower and crosswalks.

iIt's very chilly over here. Is it hot over there?i asked Cameron Betts.

For Christmas, Lakeview staff filled shoe boxes with treats for Kayser.

His parents own Kayser's Chapel of Memories in Moses Lake. His mother Ronda Kayser said her sister's second grade class first wrote to Ben Kayser, and when Talbot found out she asked if students at Lakeview could write to them.

iHe really spends the time answering the kids' questions,i Ronda Kayser said.

Ronda Kayser said her son left for Iraq in August 2006 and should be back this August. He earned his bachelor's degree from Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois and joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, where he earned his master's degree in business administration.

iHe's been a really awesome kid,i she said.

She said she knows he appreciates the correspondence.