Some call letter writing a lost art, but for fifth graders in the Wantagh School District, it is creating a lot of buzz among a tech-savvy generation. Students from Nicole Silvar’s class at Forest Lake Elementary School are now pen pals with their peers in Gillian LeRoy’s class at Wantagh Elementary School. 

Ms. Silvar and Ms. LeRoy, who have known each other since attending high school together, decided to have their students get to know each other a little better before they all go to middle school in September. Students in Ms. LeRoy’s class wrote the first letters, sharing some information about themselves, and asking questions of their Forest Lake pen pals. Ms. Silvar’s students responded just before Memorial Day weekend, with the hope of exchanging one more set of letters before the end of the school year. 

“Everything is so digital,” Ms. Silvar said, “so we decided to go old-school and write letters.”

There was a little bit of technology involved. Before the first letters were written, students from both classes filled out Google Forms with information about their likes and interests to match up pen pals. 

Putting pen or pencil to paper, students learned how to organize a letter. It also gave them practice with spelling, grammar and punctation. They also addressed envelopes and placed their letters inside. Thanks to interoffice mail they didn’t need stamps, but they still got as close as possible to the full letter-writing experience.