"I'm learning how other people are, and how different everybody really is."
Kolbe Adkins has a dog, a cat and two degus (rodents related to chinchillas and guinea pigs) and is such a good artist that his friends thought he must have traced the picture he drew for a holiday card.
Rita Taylor has a cat named Hot Rod that loves to run around in circles.
Those are just a few of the things that Kolbe, a fifth-grader at Speas Elementary School, and Taylor, a retired teacher, have learned about each other since they became pen pals at the beginning of the school year.
Kolbe has been enjoying their correspondence.
"I like to write to other people because it makes me think I am doing something for somebody else," he said. "I'm learning how other people are and how different everybody really is."
Taylor keeps all her letters from Kolbe, and, before writing
back, she rereads his last one to remind herself of any questions she needs to answer.
"He asks really good questions," said Taylor, who taught for 29 years at such elementary schools as Konnoak and Sedge Garden.
At Speas, all 50 fifth-graders have been matched with a retired educator as part of a program set up five years ago by a retired educator, Raymond Sarbaugh. After he died last year, Taylor took over coordinating the program.
Although the adults and students get to know each other primarily through letters, they meet in person several times a year. At their Valentine's get-together, they ate cupcakes as they talked about whatever came up.
Becky Meyst, who retired after 30 years at such middle schools as Wiley and Clemmons, is pen pals with Adriana De Oleo, who has two favorite colors -- blue and red -- and wants to become a computer-programmer when she grows up.
"I know she is a very smart young lady -- she always makes the honor roll," said Meyst.
Adriana is a member of the safety patrol, something she enjoys because it means opening doors for people in the morning and getting out of class a few minutes early in the afternoon.
Peggy Hawkins, who taught for 31 years at Philo Middle School and other schools on the south side of town, discovered that she and her pen pal, Vincent Crosby, share a love of jazz, which has given them a satisfying focus for their correspondence. Hawkins joined the program this year at the urging of Taylor who told her that she would really enjoy making the connection with a youngster.
"She was right," Hawkins said.
Kelly Linhart, a fifth-grade teacher at Speas, said, "This is a tremendous experience for the kids…. It is good for their writing skills."
Kent Reichert, the principal at Speas, said that, as important as developing their writing skills is, he appreciates another aspect of the program even more.
"More important than that is they have someone special who cares about them," he said.
He knows of one instance in which the adult pen pal's showing a real interest in a boy seemed to make a big difference in his life.
"It really became a friendship that turned the child around," he said.
"It's like being another member of the family who cares about you."
■ Kim Underwood can be reached at 727-7389 or at kunderwood@wsjournal.com.
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