The Flat Stanley Project began in 1995 under the direction of Dale Hubert, a third grade school teacher in
London,
Ontario, Canada. The project is meant to facilitate letter-writing between schoolchildren as they document where Flat Stanley has accompanied them around the world. The goal of the project is to increase reading and writing skills, as well as teaching children about people and cultures from different places. The Flat Stanley Project provides an opportunity for students to make connections with students from other member schools who have signed up for the project. Students begin by reading the book and becoming familiar with Flat Stanley's story. Then, they create paper "Flat Stanleys" (representative drawings of the Stanley Lambchop character) and keep a
journal for a few days, documenting the places and activities in which Flat Stanley is involved. Each student's Flat Stanley and its respective journal are then mailed to students at other schools. The students at those schools are asked to treat the Flat Stanley as a visiting guest and add to the respective journal, then return them both after a short period of time. The project has many similarities to the
traveling gnome prank, except that the Flat Stanley Project focuses more on literacy. As a part of the project, students may plot Flat Stanley's travels on maps and share the contents of their journals. Additionally, Flat Stanleys often return with a photo or postcard from their visit. Despite the project's traditional reliance on letters, some teachers prefer to use
e-mail due to its quicker travel time. In 2008, more than 6,000 classes from 47 countries took part in the Flat Stanley Project.,
Nigeria Arranging exchanges Teachers can register and arrange exchanges with other classrooms on the Flat Stanley Project website. Another option is for teachers to ask students to get their parents' permission to address an envelope and send the paper doll to a friend or relative in another state. The Flat Stanley Project uses blogs for teachers, parents and students to publish stories, describe local traditions and scenery, and post photos.
In popular culture The project was featured in the 2004 episode of the animated TV series
King of the Hill How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Alamo, in which
Nancy Gribble receives a Flat Stanley in the mail.
Peggy Hill and
Luanne Platter photograph it in a number of dangerous situations, resulting in the school's Flat Stanley Project being canceled. According to the February 26, 2009 broadcast of
Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Flat Stanley was on board the
US Airways Flight 1549, which landed safely in the
Hudson River. He was carried to safety in the briefcase of his traveling companion. In early 2010, Darren Haas, a Flat Stanley advocate and applications architect, approached Dale Hubert with the idea of turning the Flat Stanley Project concept into an app for the iPhone. The app was released in late 2010, Dog Man Unleashed – the second in the series of
Dog Man novels – contains a homage to Flat Stanley: the antagonist feigns a crush by cutting out a cardboard likeness of himself, and inserts it under a bulletin board. ==References==