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Pen Pals: Students from 2 schools have lots of fun sharing letters
Journal photo by David Rolfe
Lupita Leon (left), a student at Griffith Elementary School, signs an autograph book for her pen pal, Diana Ortiz, a student at Konnoak Elementary.
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Published: May 4, 2009
Elizabeth Denny teaches second grade at Konnoak Elementary School. Amy Reid teaches second grade at nearby Griffith Elementary School.
When they met at a workshop one day, they fell into talking about how much fun it might be to have their students become pen pals and learn the value of "good, old-fashioned letter writing."
So that's what they did. They paired students in each class, and, since the fall, the students have been writing to each other, making sure to include all five parts of a friendly letter each time.
Don't worry. I didn't remember what the five parts are either. Denny filled me in -- date, greeting, body, closing, signature.
Griffith student Ashlyn Wagner thought the teachers had the right idea.
"It helps you learn more about writing, and, if you're writing to someone, it's more fun," Ashlyn said.
Face-to-face meeting
As to how many letters the students have exchanged, estimates varied.
One student thought she might have written 20 letters. Another thought he might have written 50, maybe even 100. The effort spent polishing those letters may have made it seem like more than it was. Based on Reid's estimate of a letter every couple of weeks, the total was probably a mite lower.
The students had not met each other in person until recently when the students at Konnoak hopped on a school bus and rode over to Griffith.
To add a little drama to the occasion, the Griffith students left their classroom. After the Konnoak students settled in on the floor, Reid brought her students into the room one by one. As she called out each name, the student's pen pal would speak up and the two would get together.
Derik Grampus, who goes to Konnoak, sat down with his Griffith pen pal, Kevin Camacho. In his letters, Derik told Kevin all about his two brothers and one sister and how he likes to eat pizza and play football and basketball.
The students had made presents for each other. Along with a collage that he made, Derik brought Kevin a Championship Wrestling belt that he had drawn.
Lupita Leon of Griffith made a collage with pictures of things she likes for her pen pal, Diana Ortiz. It had pictures of flowers, butterflies, cosmetics, chicken nuggets and the cat-and-mouse cartoon team, Tom and Jerry. Diana had made a poster that had a picture of a cardinal, just like the ones you can see in the Konnoak garden.
Diana also brought a copy of one of her favorite books -- Junie B. Jones is a Party Animal -- to show Lupita. Junie B. Jones is one popular girl. Other girls had brought along Junie B. Jones books as well to show their pen pals.
During the get-together, some of the pen pals exchanged home information and said they planned to keep writing to each other during the summer.
"One never knows how far their friendships could go," Denny said. "Having positive and unforgettable experiences with my own childhood pen pals, I'm hoping to pass on the satisfaction of a true friendship to all my students."
As a bonus, Denny has the memories of the expressions on the students' faces as they visited with their pen pals.
"Their smiles brightened up the entire room," she said.
■ Kim Underwood can be reached at 727-7389 or at kunderwood@wsjournal.com.
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