The Beta Sigma Phi Sorority in Carterville invited a BASIC coalition member to speak to their group on the developmental assets. After the meeting, they were struck with the simplicity of supportive relationships to student success. A few of the sorority members work in the local school andcollectively they wanted to do something as a group that would be special and supportive to some of the students in the school who seemed to have few adult role models outside the home.
The school staff identified eleven elementary school students and contacted their parents. Once they had parent approval they told the students that each would have a special Pen Pal who would write just to them. Each member of the soroity was assigned one child they did not know. The first letters from the sorority sisters went out to students on November 17th, 2009. The following is from an e-mail update the following day from the school organizer back to her fellow sorority Pen Pals:
Hi Girls!
I just wanted to give everyone a pen pal update. I delivered the first letters today. It was AWESOME!! The kids could hardly contain themselves they were SOOOOO excited! I thought that when I gave them the letters they would rip them open, but they didn't. They appeared to "savor" them. One girl read her inventory sheet at least 3 times before even looking at the note. The statement was "Look Mrs. H., she's JUST like me!!" Another comment was, "Mine knows what it's like here. She went here when she was little." Each of them carefully opened the letters as to not rip them. The 2 kids who are in my homeroom must have read and re-read their letters at least 20 times in the morning alone. Chad could not stop smiling. He was literally shaking with excitement when he read his letter to me to "show me". The letters sat on their desks right next to them, protected throughout the day. So far we already have 3 letters back ready to mail on Friday. It was all I could do to keep from running to each of you to give you YOUR letters! I really think this is going to be something. I'm so glad you all decided to participate. Your 10 minutes really made their day today! (I'm telling you, I'm gonna have to get a video camera to show you how awesome. . .)