Students in Mr. Richard Ferguson’s law enforcement class at Wylie High School penned letters to active military members and veterans.

Mr. Ferguson asked students to reach out to friends and family to try and locate someone in the service that they could write a letter.

Mr. Ferguson has his law enforcement students search the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

“Most of the kids like doing this,” Mr. Ferguson said. “I want them to have a sense of gratitude and take pride in it.”

If students were unable to find someone they had a connection to, Mr. Ferguson provided them with a name so that everyone had a soldier to write.

Junior Vanessa Morales wrote to her brother, Alexander Morales, a 2016 WHS graduate who recently completed bootcamp. 

Juniors Vanessa Morales, Bella Moore and Parker Fitzgerald show photos of their family members that they wrote letters to thanking them for their service.

“We are really tight,” Morales said. “We bonded a lot recently during COVID. We understand each other with just one look. We get each other on a different level.”

Her brother is currently in Georgia and she hasn’t seen him in six months.

“I miss him,” she said. “In my letter I sent him warm hugs and kisses from home and told him to keep strong.”

Junior Bella Moore chose to write a letter to her dad, Sergeant First Class Scott Moore, who leaves for active duty every few months. Scott served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“He's very supportive and is always there for me,” Moore said. “He supports me through everything.”

Senior Cameren Fredericks’ godbrother, Marcus Honeycutt, is an E4 in the Army Reserves.

 

Senior Cameren Fredericks and sophomore Jiyan Haji, who also wrote letters to loved ones, both plan to join the armed services after graduation.

“He’s been a major part of my life,” Fredericks said. “Growing up, he played baseball with me, we celebrated the 4th of July, all sorts of stuff.” 

Honeycutt went straight into the Army after graduating from high school.

“In my letter, I told him thanks for being there,” Fredericks said.

Fredericks plans on joining the Army as well. 

“I want to have a job as an MP while I go to military school,” he said. 

Sophomore Jiyan Haji plans to join the Navy after high school. She wrote to former classmate Preston Halvorson, who is in the Army. 

“I chose him because he inspired me to stay in JROTC last year,” Haji said. 

A former student currently serving in the Marine Corps motivated Mr. Ferguson to create the letter-writing campaign.

“He has an extremely important job on the presidential guard and doesn’t have a lot of time for a social life,” Mr. Ferguson said. “I thought it’d be nice to give back.”

Mr. Ferguson hopes this assignment will lead to his students having a pen pal they can continue to correspond with.