Canadian air traffic controllers sent hundreds of pizzas to air traffic controllers in the United States.
They have been working without pay since December 22. That is when the US government “shutdown” began. (A government shutdown is when a government cannot pass its budget–a document that sets out how it will spend its money. All “non-essential” government jobs stop, and “essential” jobs continue, except the people doing them can’t get paid until the budget is approved. The United States is in the midst of one of the longest shutdowns in its history.)
Air traffic control–the people on the ground who help pilots get their airplanes in and out of the airport, among other things–do an “essential” service. In the US, more than 14,000 air traffic controllers are working without pay until the shutdown is over, according to CBC News.
Air traffic controllers in Canada wanted to lift their US colleagues’ spirits. The idea of sending them pizza started in Edmonton, Alberta–they wanted to send pizzas to Alaska.
The idea took off and, according to CBC News, Canadian air traffic controllers have sent pizzas to 35 locations in the United States.
In Long Island, American air traffic controllers received pizzas sent by Canadians in Newfoundland & Labrador and New Brunswick. One American air traffic controller posted on social media that the pizza was “really good,” and that the gesture was appreciated.
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CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Discussion Prompt
What do you think this gesture by the Canadians meant? Why do you think they sent them the pizza in the first place, and why do you think they sent it to so many different locations?
Reading Prompt: Extending Understanding
What makes one job “essential” vs “non-essential”? Come up with a definition for each and think of 5 examples for each category.
Junior
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (Reading: OME 1.6).
Intermediate
Extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them
(Reading: OME 1.6) .
Language Feature: Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are used throughout this article in two different ways. Find where quotation marks are used and identify the different uses.
