Seniors, 4th graders celebrate pen pal relationship

When’s the last time you received a good, old-fashioned, hand-written letter?

Fourth graders at St. Mary’s School in Owatonna wrote and received letters throughout this last school year, thanks to a group of local senior volunteers. They were paired up through Reasons to Write, a program of Catholic Charities’ Active Aging Programs & RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program).

According to regional director Marlene Levine, this was the program’s first year in Owatonna. And it won’t be the last.

Leann Boyd said she volunteered because “I like keeping a foot in with the younger kids.” She was also part of a senior pen pal program when she worked for Federated Insurance.

Her pen pal Lyndon wrote “mostly about what he likes to do and a little about school.” Seniors received an outline of subjects to write about and keep the conversation going.

“It was nice to get a letter once in a while and get to know somebody young,” Boyd said.

Linda Hoffmann said her pen pal wrote about doing some of the same things she liked doing when she was 10 years old.

“Children haven’t changed that much,” she said.

John Scott’s pen pal Carson talked a lot about himself in his first letter. In reply, Scott shared what he did as a fourth grader, like fishing with his friends and walking to school.

“I like the fact that it’s involving the kids in the act of writing a letter instead of texting on a phone,” he said.

Paula Rue discovered her pen pal Alex likes the same play she does–the musical “Annie.”

“I remember an earlier version,” Rue said. “She thought it was fun to learn something she liked stemmed from something long ago. It helped me think back to my own childhood… It’s a very worthwhile project and gets them involved in something other than screens.”

Fourth grade teacher Kaitlin Meger said students prepared for the program by learning how to write a letter, the difference between formal and informal styles of writing, and how the different pieces of a letter fall into place.

“We talked about how you get to know somebody, and to ask questions,” she said.

“It’s good for them to write, we don’t write letters like we used to,” said St. Mary’s principal Jen Swanson. “It’s also a great way for them to connect and realize they have a lot more in common (with the seniors) than they think. I know they enjoy the writing and especially receiving letters.”

Levine said the program will continue at St. Mary’s next year and will add three fourth grade classes–about 90 students–at Washington Elementary. So of course, she’s looking for more 55-plus volunteers.

To learn about the program, contact Levine at mlevine@ccsomn.org.