Growing up in rural Alaska had both its perks and its disadvantages. One such disadvantage were that many of the national education promotions were not applicable in Alaska, let alone rural Alaska.
One such program that we could sort of participate in was The Book It! club sponsored by Pizza Hut. We had to fill out our charts and then mail it in and a month or two later we would get a voucher that we had to bring with us the next time we went to Fairbanks. It worked, we had a lot of readers because, seriously, what else was there for us to do!
One year, our principal had planned it out that we would be doing a field trip to go to a ski meet in Fairbanks. We had received our vouchers and he had called ahead to make sure it would be okay for him to bring a dozen kids in to redeem them. We were excited when our principal told us that he had gotten permission.
We were completely bummed when the weather changed and we had to cancel our trip due to poor road conditions. Our principal called the owner of the Pizza Hut and told him we wouldn’t make it.
The next day, not long before lunch, our principal suddenly slipped on his coat after receiving a phone call and left the TA in charge. He returned in less than half an hour with a box full of personal pan pizzas!
The owner of the Pizza Hut had felt so bad for us, and wanting to honor us for our diligent reading, had contacted the contractor who delivered mail to our town. The pilot had flown the pizzas to us and had the postmaster call when he landed.
I will never forget the joy of getting my very own pizza for lunch. What was a small act to one person had a lifelong impact on others. There were not enough thank you letters to express the token of our appreciation.
When I think of it, it always remind me that kindness takes a little effort and the payoff is always greater than the act.
Matthew Lasley 