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Child's letter prompts Kansan's journey
new slt washington
Vicki Keffer at CPI Quality Plan Consultants is shown with the items she is sending to an elementary school in Washington, in response to a students request for information about Kansas. Keffer plans to visit the school in person this month.


A child’s letter to the editor seeking information about Kansas prompted a Great Bend resident’s upcoming visit to Conway School in Mt. Vernon, Wash.
Vicki Keffer, who works at CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, was reading the Great Bend Tribune on March 22 when she saw this letter from Bo Owens:
Dear Editor,
Hello! My name is Bo Owens. I am a fifth grader at Conway School in Mount Vernon, Wash. In fifth grade we do state reports and I chose the great state of Kansas. Part of our report is that we have to do a display about our state. I am hoping you can help me with this.
I would really appreciate it if you could send me information and artifacts about Kansas. Pamphlets, magazines, postcards, or souvenirs would all be really helpful. I’m also interested in how many people live in Kansas, what schools are like there, about different religions, different jobs, and information like that.
Thank you for taking my request into consideration. I appreciate you taking time to read my letter.
Sincerely,
Bo Owens
Conway School
Ms. del Bosques Class
Mount Vernon, WA 98274
“It just so happens that my position here at CPI is that I am the senior manager for educational institutions and have plans to be in Mount Vernon, Wash., for work during the month of May,” Keffer said. “The strange thing is one of CPI’s clients is Mount Vernon, Wash., and their school’s 403(b) plan. Also strange is that my sister (Gail McDermott) and her family have lived there for over 20 years.”
Keffer got in touch with the school teacher and principal and plans to spend an hour at the school next week. In the past she has volunteered as a Youth Friend to a sixth grader at Riley Elementary, so she feels confident she’ll be able to talk to fifth graders.
“I’m brushing up on my Kansas history,” she said. She’s planning to talk about the Santa Fe Trail and Exodusters, and to show some pictures of Kansas. Keffer will be able to talk about growing up on a farm as well as having a job that allows her to travel across the nation.
Her daughter Erica Keffer went to the recent Great Bend Farm and Ranch Show and picked up several fact sheets and activity books about Kansas. Vicki Keffer also collected a number of items to give to the students, including CPI memo cubes and scented pencils from the Tribune.