Parkville Soldiers Deployed But Not Forgotten By Pine Grove Middle Students

National Guard units often bill themselves as neighbors who are just as likely to be called to help victims of a local storm as they are to be deployed to foreign lands.

They often live in the communities they are assigned to, and if not, still have many ties to the area.

So when 30 members of the 1229th Transportation Company, assigned to the Maryland National Guard's Parkville Readiness Center, were deployed to Afghanistan in July, Pine Grove Middle School had a personal reason to wish the soldiers well on their mission.

Art teacher Vernon Fains had to say goodbye to his niece, Sgt. Latoya Miller, that day, according to Dori Plait, an English teacher at the school.

As the holiday season rolled around, Pine Grove students decided to let the soldiers they weren't forgotten. 

Students in Jackie Sebring's and Kristen Campbell's Communications and Learning Supports program for students with autism created homemade greeting cards and gift bags in their art classes.

The caring students organized the collection of toiletry items and small treats to stuff the gift bags, and sent them with messages of "thanks" and "we have not forgotten about you," according to Plait, who also serves as the school's Good News Ambassador.

The care packages were shipped to the unit Dec. 13, and now the students are selling homemade ornaments during lunch shifts to pay the shipping costs.

"PGMS students, faculty and staff are proud of our brave soldiers who fight for our freedom each and every day," Plait said in a statement to Parkville Patch.