Pen Pal Project
Berkeley Heights Public Schools
Twenty-one years ago, the ‘Pen Pal Project’ began at William Woodruff School thanks, in part, to a grant from the Berkeley Heights Education Foundation. This year, the beloved tradition took root at a new home and continued with students and staff at Thomas P. Hughes School. Every year, each fourth grade student at the school writes pen pal letters to a fourth grader at Evergreen School in Plainfield, NJ. Along with the letter, the student selects and sends a paperback book for their pen pal. The students from each school typically correspond a few times throughout the year and love writing and receiving letters and learning about their new friends.
“I have been involved in the pen pal project for the past 21 years and it is such a wonderful way to engage the students in, what is now, a less common way of connecting with their peers. Letter writing is an excellent way to build communication skills to get to know people,, and above all make new friends,” said Fourth Grade teacher Kim Delatour. She added, “The program started with the goal of wanting our students to have the opportunity to communicate with a fourth grader from a very different type of community than their own. It seems the biggest lesson the students have learned over the years is that we are all a lot more alike than different, even if our cultures and communities are so diverse.”
As the program continued over the years those involved thought it would be nice for the pen pals to meet one another. For quite a few years, the schools would alternate and visit one another for a morning together. Unfortunately due to the global pandemic, this element of the program has not been possible recently but will hopefully be back in the future.
According to Thomas P. Hughes Principal Mrs. Jessica Nardi, “When we were looking at which signature Woodruff traditions we could bring with the students to Hughes, the fourth grade pen pal program was at the top of the list. It is such a unique and wonderful opportunity for our students and they love every aspect of the program – from writing their letters, to picking and packaging the books. I am grateful to Mrs. Delatour for continuing this project at Hughes and look forward to it continuing for many years to come.”
