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06/10/2024 07:33 AMOn June 6, a group of 17 senior citizens who have been corresponding with 17 Walsh Intermediate School (WIS) eighth graders since September met for a year-end, in-person sit down and discussion about their shared year of correspondence.
Cherie Strucaly, director of Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut’s AmeriCorps Seniors Volunteer Program, said the program is now in its ninth year in Branford. Through an AmeriCorps grant, the program centers on using cursive writing, a lost art for many young students, as part of the letter-writing series.
Strucaly collaborates with Nancy Cohen, assistant director for Branford’s Canoe Brook Center, and WIS Peer Leader advisors Heather Grattan and Megan Basti, as program directors.
“The program directors have done a wonderful job,” said WIS Principal Raeanne Reynolds. “I love seeing the seniors with the eighth graders. They’re learning from one another, sharing experiences, and bringing the community together.”
“I think sometimes we forget our youth have these positive attributes,” said Grattan. “They want to be involved and do good things. So it’s nice to have this program where they can.”
Through many months of correspondence, friendships have grown based on common interests that were matched between pen pals at the start of the program.
Peter Graves and Evan Cabello started off with a connection to a love of fishing. On June 6, Graves brought a gift of dozens of flys he tied for Cabello, and a quite a few more questions for his young friend.
“Evan has so many interests,“ said Graves. “I’ve got to ask him about this metalworking, about his playing in the band, his sports. His interests went on and on! I couldn’t believe it.“
Cabello said enjoyed corresponding with Graves.
“He would ask me questions and I could ask him questions and we could talk about a lot of different topics. He was telling me about the fishing he does and also his job and where he went to college, and it’s all very interesting,” said Cabello.
Graves’ career in biology and chemistry also created another bond between the two, as Cabello’s dad is a biochemistry engineer.
“So not just the fishing, but also the interest in medicine came up,” said Graves.
Corresponding in cursive was a new experience for Cabello.
“I never learned it,” said Cabello. “In school, I only had one teacher who ever actually made us learn cursive, and that was in third grade, but we never even finished that topic, because it wasn’t supposed to be on the curriculum. So I feel like I didn’t get a chance to learn it until now. In general, I’m always typing, so it’s helped me a lot with my handwriting because I practiced it more.”
Graves said when he was in fifth grade, a special teacher would come into the class once a week to teach cursive to the class.
“I really enjoyed it,” said Graves, adding he could see his pal’s improvement with every letter.
“He got better and better at it. The last letter was all in cursive,” said Graves.
Another new experience for Cabello was the lengthier wait time between the conversations including each note making its arrival through the U.S. mail.
“In the communication I’m used to, it’s like a maximum of a day later that they respond. But this could be a week, a month, or maybe longer,“ said Cabello.
However, the wait was always worth it.
“In this type of conversation, you put more information in, so it’s a longer discussion between us,” said Cabello.
Grattan and Basti said the students were always thrilled on days when their pen pals’ letters arrived.
“They were so excited to get their letters and read them,” said Basti. “They’ve read their letters at lunch with their friends. That connection they make is missing in today’s society. It’s great to bring that back, and to give them an opportunity to have a different connection that’s not via technology.”
Grattan said a lot of students are also learning about the different types of experiences their pen pals had when they were their age.
“A lot of our students are athletes, and from their pen pals they’re finding out that a lot of women didn’t have the chance to play sports when they were in school, or maybe they were the first one to be able to play a sport at their school,” said Grattan.
The connective interests help to build a bridge of communication between the two correspondents, she said.
“We have one student who is a drummer who is matched with a gentleman who is also a drummer, we have people who share an interest in theater, and people who like to read. So it’s meaningful to both of them,” Grattan said.
The matches between students’ and seniors’ interests are made by Strucaly. She starts the program off with a survey seeking hobbies, favorite school subjects, and current interests.
“I have a new senior correspondent this year, and she asked me, ‘How did you find me in eighth grade? This girl is me! We are just like two peas in a pod,’” said Strucaly. “So beyond the educational aspect, we just love the impact it has for our seniors. They can’t wait to get those letters from their kids.”
The program includes many Branford area seniors as well as others from the shoreline who have learned of the program and have requested the chance to join in.
Cohen said the Branford seniors who participate through Canoe Brook Center experience many benefits from this program.
“A lot of the seniors have grandkids who live far away, so it’s a connection to a younger person. Cherie does a great job of connecting interests, so we have people like Peter who is into flytying, and he has someone who is into fishing. We have another senior who is into art, and so is her pen pal,” said Cohen. “I think it’s just cool that we have a way for them to get together and communicate. It’s neat to see how they’ve grown together as writing pals. They get to know one another, and the students can see the seniors are vibrant - they’re not just sitting in a rocking chair.”