Fourth graders at John G. Dinkelmeyer Elementary School are making a crosstown connection with their future classmates. In the beginning of January, students in Janine Steinert’s class wrote letters to peers in Ashley Vella’s fourth grade class at Martin Avenue School, who then responded back. 

Children from the two classes at the district’s northern-most and southern-most schools are now pen pals. On Jan. 22, Ms. Steinert unveiled a large brown envelope, sent via interoffice mail, that contained the first letters from Ms. Vella’s class. The class gathered and individual envelopes were handed out. Together, Ms. Steinert’s students opened and read their letters, then began work on their own responses.  

Ms. Steinert said the plan is for the two classes to remain pen pals for the rest of the year, and hopefully have a meeting over Zoom in the spring. The letters will remain hand-written. She added that it is a great way for them to make connections with other students they will go to middle school and high school with.  

Letter-writing is a lost art among a tech-savvy generation of students, Ms. Steinert said. Before sending their initial letters, she led a class discussion about information that should be included. Ms. Steinert noted the importance of writing conversationally and asking questions that would evoke thoughtful responses from their pen pals. Students also learned how to address an envelope and although they weren’t sent through the actual mail, each still had the recipient’s name and school address, sender’s name and school address, and drawing of a stamp.  

Click here to view the JGD, Martin Fourth Graders Become Pen Pals slideshow.

Date Added: 1/26/2026