Operation Autograph...year 13! - HS assignment

[coachgregc]

I am a high school English teacher/coach in Texas. Several years ago I was watching the Mark Harmon movie, "Summer School", where the student writes a business letter complaining about his sunglasses, and the company sends him several sets of replacements that he shares with the class. I adapted that into a business letter autograph request, and the kids and I have received hundreds of responses through the years. We mix it up - this week we are sending off our '09 crop to WNBA players (through the team addresses, as we always do). Major-league baseball is our old standby - last year we received multiple cards, photos and personal letters from coaches who formerly played the game, including the following:

Ron Washington
Art Howe
Gary Pettis
Juan Samuel
Terry Crowley
Luis Alicea
John Farrell
Luis Rivera
Jeff Datz
Mark Salas
Pete Incaviglia
Ron Gardenhire
Jim Leyland
Jeff Jones
Ron Roenicke
John Mizerock
Tony Pena
Dave Eiland
Bobby Meacham
Don Wakamatsu
Jose Castro
Tom Foley
Dave Martinez
Lee Tinsley
Chip Hale
Lou Piniella
Dusty Baker
Ivan Dejesus
Chris Speier
Clint Hurdle
Fredi Gonzalez
Andy Fox
Ed Romero
Kevin Seitzer

Others in various sports through the years include:

football

john carney
cris carter
mark brunell (took two years)
adam vinateri
richie cunningham
ken dilger
shane lechler
matt stover
gus frerotte
mike hollis
derrick mayes
willie roaf
darrien gordon
darryl boston
curtis martin
warren moon
marco battaglia
jay fiedler
dat nguyen
ebenezer ekuban
la'roi glover
rod smith
drew bledsoe (cowboys)
drew bledsoe (patriots)
brian urlacher
warrick dunn
jay riemersma
trent green
david carr
ben rothlisberger
kyle boller
vinny testaverde
brett favre (regrets)
a.j. hawk
joey galloway
chad greenway
santonio holmes
drew bennett
alex smith
matt hasselbeck
jake delhomme
jay cutler
eli manning
ed mccaffrey (regrets)
jake plummer
doug flutie
dexter coakley
hunter smith
willie mcginest
jason sehorn
frank sanders
priest holmes
ty detmer
billy joe tolliver
kent graham
chris boniol
norm johnson
ahman green
troy brown
tom brady (trinkets, no sig)

baseball

rafael palmeiro
corey koskie
rick reed
randy wolf
ryan dempster
mark grace
jeff kent
rusty greer
kerry wood
gabe kapler
brian jordan
scott karl
bill mueller
todd walker
jeff zimmerman
mike hampton (2 1/2 years to return)
bobby howry
omar daal
johnny damon
paul konerko
derek lowe
ryan minor
mark buehrle
doug mientkiewicz
kevin elster
billy wagner
john flaherty
frank catalanotto
adam piatt
matt anderson
tom gordon
lee stevens
jeff suppan (two years)
aaron harang
mike myers
andy ashby
latroy hawkins
robert fick
ismael valdes
shawn estes
chan ho park
tim wakefield
moises alou
tanyon sturtze
john thomson
brad ausmus
jamie moyer (two years)
mike lieberthal
adam everett
ryan drese
woody williams
eric young
carlos zambrano
mike mussina (two and a half years later)
eric byrnes
todd helton (unsigned, wanted money for foundation)
pat burrell
david dejesus
nate robertson
chase utley
dustin hermanson
jason johnson
juan pierre
alex rodriguez (trinkets, no sig)
rob mackowiak
brad radke
adam laroche
so taguchi
val majewski
joe mays
john buck
jason bay
jeff kent
garret anderson
aaron rowand
chad tracy
matt holliday
tike redman
eli marrero
chone figgins
bob wickman
jered weaver
shane victorino
justin morneau
jimmy rollins
chris capuano
chad cordero
bobby crosby
ben grieve
danny graves
scott elarton
phil nevin
mike dejean
brandon duckworth
john burkett
todd ritchie
bubba trammell
steve trachsel

basketball

steve nash
bryce drew
chris mihm
charlie ward
mike miller
david robinson
andre miller
jerry stackhouse
jason terry
darrell armstrong
yao ming (unsigned card)
rasheed wallace

WNBA

natalie williams
dawn staley
ticha penicheiro
andrea stinson
katie smith
tamecka dixon
jennifer azzi
elena baranova
ruthie bolton-holyfield

hockey

blake sloan
teemu selanne
pierre turgeon
felix potvin
mike dunham
ben clymer
chris osgood
john leclair
bill guerin
ilya kovalchuk
mike richter
ron francis

I just wanted to share some of our successes with you. All went through the team addresses. We send an index card and a player card or two. The index card gets sent home with the student; the card I provide is put into an album (now three volumes) to share with future classes. The kids really enjoy this, and when one is returned, their eyes really light up.
My goal is to scan these to a school website, but that will be a “catch-as-catch-can” effort.
I think we will add celebrities into the mix soon. I just received my first celebrity mail auto (Chef Gordon Ramsay), so the sky is the limit! Thanks for your time…good luck to you all.

Coach Greg Connelly

[AutographWanter]

That's really cool how you incorporated autograph collecting into your classroom. I'm glad you and your students enjoy this hobby!

[dobie516]

This is a fantastic idea to get the kids to write actual letters. Maybe it'll make some autograph collectors along the way too! {thumb2}

[coachgregc]

Got this year's first five back today...will be posted in feedback shortly!

[dfreely]

Coincidentally enough, I started autograph collecting because it was a class project many, many ages ago when I was in second or third grade.

[coachgregc]

Coincidentally enough, I started autograph collecting because it was a class project many, many ages ago when I was in second or third grade.

That's great to hear. I think it is so much better to teach them in creative ways, rather than just handing the kids a worksheet. If we think back to our favorite teachers, very rarely are they the ones that drone on and on with pages of lecture notes. It's the fun, original ideas that bring back the memories.

[marokee]

something cool for them to do too is send to the Senators, Governors, President' and Vice Presidents....all of those ypes of people. A lot of them will send out from emails to their website....but some will tell you to write a letter with a SASE...but nothing ventured nothing gained....plus you would get a lot more responses from politicians than I would because your return address is a classroom....not a private collection....just a thought though....

[marokee]

which grade do you teach?

[SophieBooty]

That's a great idea!
I hope you and your class enjoy this hobby {thumb2}
Sophie

[crystal815]

Several years ago, I started having my class write to their favorite celebrities. We were learning formats of letters and how to write them. The kids had a blast.