First Graders Host Urban Pen Pals

As part of their study of different communities, Judy Rubertino's first grade students have been participating in a pen pal program with the Urban Community School in Cleveland. Mrs. Rubertino believes that the program not only provides students with an authentic writing experience, but that it stresses the importance of knowing our neighbors in the Cleveland area.

The letter writing was so successful that the teacher and students decided to take it one step further by hosting their pen pals on the Lyndhurst campus on May 11th. Their visit included lunch, a tour of the school, a story, and a special snack, and a friendship activity in which the pen pals traced each other's hands, cut out the patterns, and applied them to a group poster to symbolize the spirit of community.