Third-Graders at Jefferson Elementary Sing "Edelweiss" for Man Living in Austria

Third-graders in Sonja D’Souza’s class at Jefferson Elementary wrote letters to a man living in a retirement home in Austria and created a video for him of them singing “Edelweiss,” a song from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.

The man’s name is Oskar Schaeffler.

“Staying closely connected to family and friends in Austria led me to hear about Oskar's story,” said D’Souza. “However knowing his daughter Carmen made it more personal. Mr. Schaeffler, 83 years old, has been in a nursing home for several years but has been bed-ridden only for the last few months.

“He led a very active life (as our children learned over the course of writing to him and his responses back to them). His interaction with people became very limited, which left him wishing for more contact with the ‘outside’ world other than his family, who do visit daily. His two daughters decided to place a classified ad in the local paper reaching out to the community asking anyone interested to visit with their father at the nursing home. 

“The response from the public was overwhelming. I asked Carmen how she felt if our students would write to her father as well and she right away sent me pictures and a little more background information on her father. I created a Haiku and invited all third grade students to meet Oskar. Ms. (Mary) Hopp's AIG students and my students paired up to write letters to Oskar. Each letter was accompanied by a student-drawn picture. They addressed the letters and took them to the office, added a stamp and saw the letters being sent off. 

“You can't imagine the excitement once we received the first responses back from Oskar. Ms. Hopp's students joined my class as I read the letters back to them. In order to make it as authentic as possible I read the letters first in German before translating them into English.

“The letters from Oskar keep coming and we certainly continue in writing back to him. His daughter mentioned that he had some health issues lately but that the letters helped distract him and focus his attention to responding to our students which he apparently enjoys a great deal. She sent me a lovely picture of Oskar holding all the letters and another one showing the students' drawings decorating the walls in his nursing home. 

During the same time, Ms. (Rene) Williams, our music teacher, worked with all third grade classes – Mrs. (Beth) Ausley's class, Ms. (Stephanie Ann) Valenti's class, Mrs. Hopp's class, and my class) to learn the song "Edelweiss.”

I have to say that we teachers were all overwhelmed with emotions while listening to the beautiful delivery of our students singing "Edelweiss." 

Principal Debbie McIntyre said, "This is a wonderful story of reaching across the world to have a positive impact on the life of another person."