BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Auryn Deem, 4, displays a picture of the USS Scout that is signed by the crew at the Head Start school in Carson City on Friday. Deem and the rest of his classmates have been corresponding with the crew for the past two years.
A group of 4- and 5-year-olds at the Stewart Head Start program have adopted one of the U.S. Navy's minesweepers stationed in the Persian Gulf.
Paula Laumann, their teacher, said every holiday, the students help write letters to the men aboard the USS Scout, send them candy, cookies, pictures they painted for the servicemen and other things.
As for the cookies, which she bakes, she said the kids "taste test them first" to make sure they are good enough for their servicemembers.
She said the sailors aboard the Scout, based in Bahrain, have responded, sending the kids a picture of their vessel. Most of the crew signed the photograph. She said a medal for the class is also on its way.
Laumann admitted it's no accident the kids were connected with the Scout. Her son David is a sailor aboard the minesweeper. She said he has rotated to the Persian Gulf and back several times over the past few years. Laumann said she has been organizing the kids to connect with the sailors serving in the Iraq War for nearly five years.
She said it's good both for the kids and for those who are serving in a dangerous war thousands of miles away from their homes and families.