Writing is so powerful because it originates from a collaboration of the mind, heart and spirit. Writing can teach us about the world, others and ourselves.

Third-grade students at New Holland Elementary School are developing their writing skills through a meaningful pen pal exercise.

"Writing is something that has sort of gone to the wayside," said Hannah Dimon, a third-grade teacher at New Holland Elementary. "This is the first year we are teaching cursive again. We still have kids practicing printing. It's a great way to come up with ideas. We want to bring the fun back to writing."

Dimon's 19 students, along with the other 40 third-graders at New Holland Elementary, have been engaging in unique pen pal correspondence with residents and staff at Garden Spot Village. The students hand write short letters on paper, mail them to the adults at Garden Spot Village through the United States Postal Service and then read the replies and responses when they get them back.

"It's done on a one-on-one basis," said Dimon. "We're excited because students get to write real letters and build connections. We're hoping they will get a greater worldview. Maybe they will see how the world has changed. Some of the kids don't have older adults in their lives. When (the Garden Spot Village residents) write back, we talk about the words they used and their meanings."

The pen pal correspondences from the New Holland third-graders are a couple of paragraphs in length, constructed from form letters that encourage the budding student writers to fill in blanks - at least at the beginning. The students write one letter each month, and each letter corresponds to a seasonal theme, like Thanksgiving in November, Christmas in December and New Year's resolutions in January.

"With the third-graders, we weren't sure how it would go," said Dimon. "We started with fill-in-the-blank. Then they can decorate them by adding things like cartoons from a graphic design website. We practice putting the addresses on the envelopes, putting the return addresses on them and then we send them.

"We just got our first ones back," continued Dimon. "The first ones were just introducing ourselves. We wrote about everything we love about the fall. We asked our pen pals things like, 'What did you do as a kid?'"

In Dimon's class, the initial return letters were met with great anticipation. The students learned that writing letters can have its rewards.

"With the first ones we did, the students didn't know who their pen pals would be," said Dimon. "We started our letters, 'Dear Pen Pal.' When we got the letters back, we sat down on the carpet, and I read them to the students. They were cheering for each other, and they were excited to meet their pen pals. So, it was really cute."

In May, near the end of the school year, the participating Garden Spot Village residents will travel to New Holland Elementary School to meet their student pen pals face to face.

"I'm sure for the Garden Spot residents, (the pen pal exercise) is very interesting," said Dimon. "Some may be looking for connection and to have something to look forward to. Hopefully, they're looking forward to the meeting in May."

In the past, New Holland Elementary has involved fourth-graders and, before that, fifth-graders in its pen pal letter writing exercise. This is the first year that third-graders have tried their hands at it.

"Third grade is a big year," said Dimon. "It's the first year that the gap between the higher-achieving students and the lower-achieving students occurs. Initially, it was learning to read; now it's reading to learn. By the third grade, students should know how to read quickly, and then building from there."

For additional information, go to http://www.elanco.org.