December 10, 2004 == MEDIA ADVISORY
In early December students from Campau Park Elementary School finally met
their Calvin College pen pals.
The 14 Campau Park second- and third-grade students presented their Calvin
writing buddies with a handmade Christmas ornament, while the Calvin students
also gave their Campau pen pals gifts. Then the entire gathering decorated
Christmas cookies, sang carols and played games.
"I thought it was really successful. The Calvin students enjoyed themselves.
The Campau kids enjoyed themselves," says Louise Henshaw, the Calvin junior who
organized the gathering.
A teacher aide in Alicia Timmer's combined second and third-grade class at
Campau Park, Henshaw initiated the written correspondence between the
elementary school and Calvin.
"I thought that would be a great way for me to get Calvin to get connected to
the community," she says.
Henshaw made the first letters from the Calvin pen pals a surprise for the
Campau students.
After that, the written exchange flourished.
The Campau children looked forward to the weekly mail from their pen pals and
the converse was also true.
"Calvin students were so excited to get their letters," Henshaw says. "It's
a nice study break."
The Christmas meeting was inspired, she adds, by her experience finally
meeting a pen pal when she was in elementary school in Crystal Lake, Illinois.
Calvin has an enduring relationship with Campau Park.
In 2000, Calvin spearheaded an innovative program, which partnered Calvin
students and seniors from New Hope Baptist Church with Campau's students in
after-school technology-mentoring relationships. Called the "Computer Kids
Club," the program is now funded by the Grand Rapids Public Schools.
"The Campau school partnership is even further enhanced by this contribution,"
says Carol Rienstra, Calvin's director of community relations. "Louise did a
wonderful job of thinking outside the box in making a new connection with the
community."
"One girl told me, 'Miss Henshaw, this is the best day ever. I don't want to
leave. I want to stay with my pen pal,'" Henshaw says.
-end-
Received on Fri Dec 10 09:27:42 2004
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