Gainesville middle school students, some of whom have never been outside of central Florida, are making connections across the world.
Three middle schools in Gainesville are part of a pen pal program, allowing students to communicate with other students their own age in South Africa.
It started with Science Partners in Inquiry-based Collaborative Education, a project funded by the National Science Foundation for UF graduate students of various studies. SPICE, which pairs a graduate student with a participating teacher at one of six Alachua County schools, aims to create hands-on, inquiry-based lessons or activities for students to teach ecosystem health.
The NSF awarded SPICE with a one-time grant to travel to South Africa for research purposes and to visit South African schools.
But a three-week trip in the summer of 2009 was not enough for Darina Palacio.
“We wanted to give back and continue the relationship,” said Palacio, a second-year environmental engineering graduate student.
Palacio, who does her SPICE activities at Howard W. Bishop Middle School, spearheaded the pen pal project.
About 100 students there, along with about 100 at Lincoln Middle School and 100 at A.L. Mebane Middle School, wrote letters to 130 students in South Africa at Mandeni Primary School in February, Palacio said.
South African students responded to the letters in June, according to May Steward, a seventh-grade teacher at Lincoln Middle School. The last scheduled delivery of the international letters was Friday to Steward’s students.
Steward, who has been working with UF’s SPICE for six years, said the pen pal project has changed her students’ perspectives of the world.
“They see that the kids aren’t that different from them,” Steward said.
The letters, delivered in giant pink and orange envelopes, were decorated with colorful notes, pictures, drawings and magazine cutouts. Messages read, “I love you,” “friends forever” and “God may bless you,” along with facts about each student’s life.
Palacio said SPICE also held a school supplies drive from January to February and sent two large suitcases full of supplies to Mandeni.
Mandeni was able to start new art classes because of the supply delivery.
SPICE will not continue to coordinate letter deliveries, but students are highly encouraged to keep contact.
“They’re learning things they never thought they would,” Steward said of her students. “They are ecstatic.”
