Christiansburg High School basketball player Julia Moschella (right) talks with her second grade buddy, Chelsey Gomez, during a visit to the classroom.
Writing letters is not typically taught in the public school system, but for a group of second graders at Christiansburg Primary School, it’s becoming second nature, with a twist.
They have some new pen pals in the Christiansburg girls high school basketball teams.
As part of the state’s Standard of Learning (SOLs) initiative, second grade teachers are required to teach students how to write friendly letters as well as proper sentence structure. So, teacher Katherine Meadows decided to take a different approach.
“I was approached by the girls basketball boosters in the fall about adopting my class as pen pals to foster a relationship with our school,” she said. “I love the idea of teaching these lessons by having my students write weekly letters to the girls. Their writing has improved greatly through this experience.”
According to Meadows, the relationships have been amazing to watch. They began writing letters to the players in the fall and once a week, they read the ones from the players.
“The children have enjoyed reading their responses and are excited to write back,” she said.
Each student has been paired with one player and vice versa.
Thursday, the members of the jayvee and varsity teams visited the class and met their new “buddies.” For almost 30 minutes, the group got to know each other. Meadows said her students were very excited to meet them in person.
The new relationship also goes the other way, as the players are enjoying receiving the letters as well. Christiansburg Coach Joe Hutson said the girls have had a good time corresponding with their pen pals.
“It’s great for them to spend time mentoring and building a connection with the younger kids. The program has given them a break from their smart phones and social media and encouraged them to exercise old fashioned relationship building and writing skills,” he said.
Second graders from Christiansburg Primary met with members of the high school’s jayvee girls basketball team during Friday’s ball game at the high school.
The class was invited to attend the teams’ games on Friday night. During the National Anthem, they joined the varsity players on the court prior to tipoff. Both parties hope the group can continue to meet as the basketball season continues through the winter.
“This affords the girls basketball players the opportunity to be positive role models for the younger kids in the community. My students look up to them. They have made great connections with the high school girls,” Meadows said.
Who knows, there might also be some future Blue Demon basketball players in the group.