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Letter by Letter Penpal Program Kickoff

For students in grades 2-6

Letter by Letter is a 501(c)(3) organization committed to promoting literacy across elementary to high school students through the practice of writing letters. Through letter-writing workshops and a pen pal program, the organization's aim is to help those struggling with reading and writing in the classroom to discover the rewarding gift of literacy. Literacy is not just a skill, but a pathway to self-expression and creating change that everyone should have
access to.

The Letter by Letter Penpal Program is a 6-week long letter exchange program for children of grades 2 to 6. High school volunteers are paired with students who register for the program. Together, they practice letter-writing etiquette and reading comprehension, as well as exchanging in historical and social change activities.

This event is a kickoff, and further participation in the program will take place through the letters exchanged between registered participants and high school volunteers. Letter exchanges will occur weekly, and a schedule for picking up and dropping off letters will be coordinated after the kickoff.

Over the course of the program, participants can expect to develop:

1. Foundational literacy skills such as sentence structure, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.
2. A strong sense of social awareness. According to the Greater Good ScienceCenter at UC Berkeley, social emotional learning (SEL)—the teaching of social
   awareness—helps develop students’ skills in empathy, understanding/expressing gratitude, identifying diverse social norms, and caring for the community. Source: https://ggie.berkeley.edu/student-well-being/sel-for-students-social-awareness-and-relationship-skills/
3. Creativity to craft their own unique stories and ideas.
4. Civic responsibility by observing voices of the past, and discovering the power of their own voice in the present. 
5. A love for learning. Whether it’s reading or writing, sparking a child’s interest from an early age is the surest way to grow lifelong learners.

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