Heather Jefkins, armed forces advocate
GORE BAY—Charles C. McLean Public School teacher Heather Jefkins was in tears well before a Royal Canadian Armed Forces Chinook helicopter even landed at the school’s playground last Friday, and this was before she was deservedly presented with a special RCAF Centennial Coin. She believed the helicopter’s arrival was a surprise for her and her Grade 3-4 class as part of her ‘Flat Stanley’ penpal program.
A few minutes after landing, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Harris (Commanding Officer) of the 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron made a special presentation to Ms. Jefkins for her numerous contributions to the Canadian Armed Forces, including the creation of Operation Flat Stanley, Operation Troop Support (Christmas care packages to members of the Canadian Forces serving in other parts of the world) and her designation 11 years ago as an Honourary United Nations Peacekeeper (exemplifying her dedication and service).
“Please come forward,” Lieutenant Colonel Harris requested Ms. Jefkins, as troops from the RCAF helicopter and all C.C. McLean students and staff were on hand to watch the presentation. “There are plenty of people who help volunteer to help provide care packages for our Forces members. One of these people who is heavily involved in this is Ms. Jefkins. Heather is one of the biggest supporters of the Canadian Forces on Manitoulin Island, with (Christmas) care packages to our troops overseas, the Flat Stanley pen pal program, and allowing students to find out and understand what the Canadian Forces are all about. You have done all of this to support people like us and all members of the Canadian Armed Forces.”
“Heather has been recognized for the work that she does by the Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Lieutenant General Eric Kenny. He has offered an RCAF 100 coin for Heather. As part of the RCAF Centennial this year, the Commander came up with the idea of having 100 coins made to present to deserving persons like Heather. Only 100 coins like this are in existence,” said Lt. Col. Harris. “It is an honour and a pleasure to have the responsibility to present one of these coins to Heather.”
“Thank you for everything you do for the CAF,” stated Lt. Col. Harris, who had to almost immediately coax all the students, to “tell Ms. Jefkins to stop crying.” He then asked the students if the C.C. McLean teacher is ever at a loss for words.
“I am today,” stated Ms. Jefkins. “Thank you so much. I started working with Canadian Armed Forces in 2006 and have worked with so many great people over the years. I started when our Canadian troops were in Afghanistan, by having students write letters to our soldiers. I was at a loss as to how to help, and my students wrote letters and packed boxes.”
Ms. Jefkins said that she started the Flat Stanley program after she and her Grade 4/5 class read the popular children’s book, ‘Flat Stanley.’ The students then created their own unique Stanleys, dressed in the distinct camouflage of the CAF. Students then wrote letters and took photos with their Stanleys before “deploying” them to Canadian Armed Forces Bases across Canada.
It was through the participation of Major Dave White, who was one of the first Stanley volunteers, along with more than 30 others, that the program really took off. “He would take his Flat Stanley everywhere he went, taking photos and sending them to our class, as well as encouraging other CAF Members at CFB Goose Bay to do the same,” said Ms. Jefkins, who noted her daughter Bella was one of her first Flat Stanley students when she was in Grade 4 in 2013. “With the help of all the CAF members that participated, the students learned so much about the military and how important they are. I have met so many wonderful people through this program, some of whom I now call friends, like Dave.”
“Heather cares so much for people. She continually tries to do more for people and doesn’t ask for anything in return,” said Major Dave White, who serves in the CAF with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, as part of the 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron. He has been involved in the Flat Stanley program since its inception in 2013, and that is how he met Ms. Jefkins. When he heard of the RCAF Centennial initiative to present 100 coins to 100 Canadians, he immediately thought of Ms. Jefkins and nominated her for this recognition. The initiative aims to recognize 100 Canadians who embody RCAF values, with each receiving a special edition RCAF Centennial coin.
“When a member of the military is deployed anywhere around the world and they receive these care packages or letters, it provides a phenomenal feeling,” said Major White. “It means so much to each of them because it reminds them of home, and the support that they have.”
Among several RCAF officers and crew on hand was Major Tim Armstrong, who grew up in Gordon/Barrie Island and was a former student of Ms. Jefkins.
“I was in Ms. Jefkins’ Grade 5 class,” Major Armstrong said. “She instilled in me a love of history and on the 100th anniversary of the RCAF and the 80th anniversary of the D-Day yesterday (June 6) it is fitting that we are here presenting this very deserving recognition to her.”
Lieutenant-Colonel (Commanding Officer) Harris then called upon C.C. McLean Principal Robyn Best, “I am making a presentation of a special Squadron Commander’s coin to Ms. Best, as a lot of organization behind the scenes has gone into this event today. I present this coin to members of my squadron after they’ve done something excellent in the workplace. Thank you very much for keeping it a secret and for all the organization and the work you’ve done to make this happen today.”
Ms. Best said that programs like the Christmas packages program, writing letters to CAF members and being pen pals with them, “gives the students a real purpose and really ignites their desire to learn.”
Lt. Colonel Harris then coaxed the students to run a lap around the track at C.C. McLean before they were able to take a tour and look inside the Chinook. The Chinook in question is one of 14 helicopters in service with the 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron, based at CFB Petawawa. The helicopters, which are designed to carry about 36 passengers, are used by the CAF in situations where they are needed to transport equipment or personnel in domestic situations such as flood and fire relief within Canada, deployments around the world and search and rescue operations. Students had an opportunity to tour the aircraft, speak with the crew and even get autographs.
The Expositor caught up to Ms. Jefkins (who will be retiring as of June 28 after a 30-year teaching career) a day after receiving the RCAF coin. She was still absolutely shocked to be the recipient of the award. “I had no idea the Chinook was coming. Major Dave White and I had texted back and forth this past winter about his idea of getting a helicopter to the school so he could surprise his penpal (Grade 3 student Jack Pfeifer), but seeing that it is getting late in the school year I was going with the idea that it was not going to happen. Dave and I message back and forth quite a bit and on Thursday night he told me he wanted to get Jack a hat and shirt. I was thinking he would send it in the mail.”
On Friday, at the time the military helicopter was to arrive at C.C. McLean, “I was on recess duty,” said Ms. Jefkins. “I saw the police go by the classroom window, and then I saw Tom Sasvari and Mike Erskine walk by and I was wondering what it was all about because you are both from the same paper, but still I wasn’t thinking anything big was taking place that involved me. The students were watching the police walking past the window and then one of the students said, ‘There’s a helicopter.’ Then I heard a loud ‘whomp-whomp-whomp’ sound and thought there is only one that that makes that sound.”
So, she walked out of the school saying, “I’ve been had.”
“I really thought Dave had been able to pull the visit off without telling me. I never dreamed that they would land a helicopter at the school, and that they would do all of this to present one of my students with a hat and shirt. I thought it was a pretty big deal for one student and the rest of my class of Grade 3-4s. I had no clue the Lieutenant Colonel and Chief Warrant Officer (Carmen Bear) would be here. I thought it was a big surprise that Dave had organized for our class, and I had no clue that Tim (Armstrong) would be there,” said Ms. Jefkins.
After having had time to digest having been presented with a 100 Coins to 100 Canadians coin, Ms. Jefkins stated, “It is such an honour. I can’t put it into words. I’ve had the opportunity to work with so many great people in the military through the years.” She concluded with, “I couldn’t have done any of this for the past 18 years without the amazing community support from around Manitoulin Island. Any time I have put up my hand for help with the Christmas boxes or anything else, everyone I’ve ever approached from community members to parents to businesses, no one has ever said no. It has always been ‘how many (items) do you need, Heather,’ or ‘What can we do to help?’”
When asked if she intended to continue with providing morale mail projects after her retirement, she stated that she is still working through possible ideas about how she might run the programs in the future, and if it would be possible outside of the classroom setting.
“Receiving this honour made me cry my head off, because I’ve worked with so many great people over the years and everyone has been so supportive,” concluded Ms. Jefkins. “It still seems unreal to me that all of this has happened.”
