Flat Stanley Goes To D.C.

Flat Stanley. For anyone who has had a child in elementary school over the past two decades, they are likely familiar with the fictitious character that has traveled from classroom to classroom and throughout the world. Flat Stanley first appeared as a title of a children’s book that was published in the mid 1960s by Jeff Brown. But Flat Stanley is more than a book, it is the catalyst for a project started in the mid 1990s by a third grade school teacher in Ontario and has spread worldwide among teachers of young children. The idea behind the Flat Stanley project is to initiate correspondence among children and document the travels of their own Flat Stanley.

Children first read the Flat Stanley book and then make their own “Flat Stanleys” and send him to places throughout the world, keeping a journal of Flat Stanley’s travels. As the children mail their Flat Stanley to various places, they ask the “host” to document his travels through photos and a journal. And you never know where Flat Stanley will turn up.

“Flat Stanley is a boy who had a black board fall on him while he was lying in bed,” explains Naples Elementary student Rad Hanson about the story on how Flat Stanley got his name. “The board smashed him flat, but he lived.” Now Flat Stanley can enjoy traveling in envelopes, seeing new places and meeting new people. And Rad should know; after all, his Flat Stanley had a front row seat at a recent Republican Presidential Debate with candidate Dr. Ben Carson.

Rad’s teacher, Mr. Alvarez, assigned the students the task of choosing a presidential candidate to send their Flat Stanley to. Rad shared the assignment with his parents as they drove to attend the Spokane County Fair. In a twist of fate, a vendor at the fair asked the Hanson family if they were familiar with presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson. They were not.

“Rad was eager to learn about Dr. Carson and how he had been a doctor and what he did for children as a doctor,” shared his mom Melenie. Rad read the pamphlet they were given with enthusiasm and shared with his parents all that he was learning about Dr. Carson. “Rad took the project seriously and did his best work. He ended up being very glad that he did,” said Melenie.

When the family attended a Halloween party, they were informed by others there of Dr. Carson’s Facebook post holding Flat Stanley at the Republican Debate. His post read, “My new friend Rad in Idaho sent me a letter asking if I could take a picture with ‘Flat Stanley’ for a class project. I thought that Stanley might like to see what the CNBC Debate was like. Thanks for the letter, Rad! Keep up the good work!"

According to his mom, Rad was thrilled and proud of his work. “He received 122,587 likes, 7,983 shares and over four thousand comments on Facebook and 12,400 likes on Instagram,” said Melenie.

Although Rad is not of voting age and is not familiar with many of the other candidates, he is fairly certain he would vote for Dr. Carson if given the opportunity. And the reason runs much deeper than the fact Dr. Carson gave him the thrill of seeing his Flat Stanley on national media.

To Rad, Dr. Ben Carson is somewhat of a hero for his work with children. Rad has juvenile arthritis as well as juvenile fibromyalgia and is currently undergoing tests for other conditions as well. “He is in pain more often than not and has grown to appreciate the doctors who try to help him,” said Melenie. Rad’s challenges have given him an appreciation for people like Dr. Carson who have dedicated their lives to helping others and have given him the gift of empathy for people – something that is sometimes rare in children his age.

“Rad had received some discouraging news at his own doctor appointment earlier in the day that Dr. Carson had posted the Flat Stanley photo,” said Melenie. “Dr. Carson took the time to take that picture, send a message to Rad, and that put a smile right back on Rad’s face. Rad believes that a man like Dr. Carson who has spent his life helping children would do a good job with our country because he has shown that he is capable to work hard even when it is hard.”

Thanks to Dr. Carson and his desire to help a young child with a school project, children like Rad can see that in spite of the harshness that can come with a run for political office, there are kind and gentle people who just want to make a difference.

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