GPCS Alumni Site Recognizes Sammy and David

† Operation BattlebearGreater Portland Christian School was in the news for our first grade project. The project was a book called “Operation Battlebear”. Every year, our first grade makes a teddy bear and then they send it over the country as a way to learn about different states. This year, our first grade sent their bear to Iraq. Samantha Gummoe, daughter of Sandy DeRienzo Gummoe (1996), wanted to send the bear to her uncle, Sgt. David DeRienzo (2000) who was serving in Iraq. Snuggly (the teddy bear) had quite an adventure. The children in first grade also wrote letters to the soldiers. Their letters and responses along with pictures of Snuggly’s adventure were all compiled into a book. When Sgt. David DeRienzo returned, GPCS held a whole school assembly to welcome him back and for David to return Snuggly. Channel 6 and Channel 8 both carried the assembly on their news program. Also, WMSJ taped an interview to share on the radio. Time Warner had each first grade student read their letter and they have aired this on their “on demand” Channel 950. The Portland Press Herald featured the assembly on the Local & State section on the paper.