On April 28, 27 students from the University of Wisconsin-Madisonââ?¬â?¢s Posse Program and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., entered the hallways of Falk Elementary eager to meet with their second and third grade pen pals for the last time as the culmination of their yearlong writing experience. As a teacher of second and third grade at Falk Elementary and a mentor of college students in the University of Wisconsin-Madisonââ?¬â?¢s Posse Program, I decided to bring both of my dynamic groups of students together through a yearlong writing experience. Aware that meaningful learning takes place through culturally relevant experiences and projects, last October I designed the Pen Pal Project as a unique opportunity to encourage and motivate students to write and to connect them with an outstanding group of college students of color to serve as role models. After initially only involving my students I was approached by another teacher of second and third grade who hoped to get her students involved. Mrs. Carolyn Bakula stated that she wanted to become involved because it would allow her students to ââ?¬Å?communicate biweekly on a meaningful and authentic level as well as gave them a purpose for writing beyond the classroom.ââ?¬Â I eagerly expanded the project to involve their peers, and involved more UW Posse scholars including freshmen, sophomores, and juniors from Chicago and Los Angeles and a group of students from the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
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