VIOLA, Ill. — Two elementary classrooms, nearly 2,000 miles apart, are finding new ways to bridge the barriers that divide them.
For the past three years, students in Stephanie Hampton's third grade class in Viola, Illinois, have been pen pals with Jennifer DiGioia's second graders in Montclair, California. The students are individually paired with a cross-country companion and send letters to each other about once a month.
Their correspondence often covers cultural differences between the two locations, but also all the ways the young students really aren't that different.
"We really enjoy it connecting the kids," Hampton said. "Some of them haven't experienced snow. Some of our kids have never seen the ocean!"
For the California students, their school is larger than the entire town of Viola.
"It's just a different kind of life! There, you know, they get up and do farm chores before they go to school," DiGioia said. "But, you know, they also like the same snacks, they like the same movies, they play the same video games, they have the same arguments with their siblings. So that's what I really love."
Over the past year, the students have regaled each other with stories of winter break adventures, Valentine's Day parties and what they have planned for summer vacation. Often, the California students will ask Siri what the weather is like for their Midwestern friends.
When the envelope of letters arrives, both teachers say it's a joyous event for their students.
"It's such a good way to expose their brains to different kinds of learning," DiGioia said.
Communication, writing, social and interpersonal skills are just a fraction of what these educators say the pen pal relationships are fostering in their students.
So, it shouldn't come as a surprise to learn the students took it upon themselves to bridge one more barrier between each other: language.
Seven of DiGioia's 22 second graders are considered 'English learners,' meaning the primary language spoken in their home is Spanish.
"Our kids kinda came up with the idea of saying, 'How do we say hi to them,'" Hampton said. "Then it just kind of snowballed after that."
The Illinois students started out learning 'hola,' before moving on to other basic words, like mañana (tomorrow), como estas (how are you) and gracias (thank you). Every word they added to their arsenal got added to their classroom whiteboard. Students also began practicing with other teachers around the building.
"I think it's been really good for both sides," DiGioia said. "It makes me feel really proud for everyone. For my students, that they're feeling seen for who they are. They differences are what makes the world beautiful."
On the last day of school for the California crew, the two classrooms found a moment that worked, across both time zones, for the students to zoom one final time together.
Armed with laptops and headphones, the kids spent half an hour quizzing each other on all kinds of topics ("How's your last day of school been?" "Is your hair naturally like that?" "What's your favorite lunch at school?" "You've been to Disneyland before, right?!").
In Illinois, student Summerrae Wates was busy playing 'guess the animal' with her pen pal, Axel.
"It's really fun to get to know him," Wates said. "I'm sad because it was our last day with him. But it was really fun!"
Nearby, her classmate, Kacie Gleason, was busy chatting away with her pen pal, Julietta.
"I just think it's cool and surprising that we get to zoom them and be with a friend in California," Gleason smiled. "She's super duper nice and funny!"
Meanwhile, another one of their classmates, Rachel, was practicing some Spanish with her cross-country buddy, Lily.
"Mi nombre es Rachel," she giggled. "¿Y tú?"
Lily has been in America for less than a year, but told her teacher it felt very special to have a friend saying "adios" to her.
"She said her heart feels very happy," DiGioia reported after the zooms. "She said she knows it's hard and even scary to speak a new language, but she said Rachel tries and Lily really appreciates that."
It's a big world, turned a little smaller for these students, thanks to their pen pals... turned just 'pals.'
"Even though we're all different, we're really all the same, too. So it's really fun," DiGioia smiled.
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