Pen Pal Project Aims to Connect Town’s Teens and Seniors

By David Dunbar

Two teachers at Bellingham High School are working on a project that would help bring local elders and high school sophomores closer together.

The Pen Pal Project would pair a Bellingham elder with a group of four to six sophomores, all students in six different history classes. One of the teachers, Emma Wells, says, “I hope that through this project our students and the seniors in the community can feel more connected and in tune with one another.”

The search is on for 30-35 seniors who would like to participate. They would write letters about their experiences in the military, being LGBTQIA+, immigration, living in Bellingham, great economic downturns, or anything else they would like to discuss.Their letters would be sent to Wells, or to the other teacher, Brian DeDentro, for review and assignment to student groups for response. This would begin around November 27 and continue through March 19, 2024. Writing back and forth would continue every two weeks.

“The students seem excited to start this pen pal scenario,” says Wells. And it’s “not grade weighted” adds DeDentro. He continues, “I like the concept of the project, because I think it will expose surprising similarities among the generations, in addition to the anticipated differences. I think they will also find it appealing because it personalizes history a little more and exposes the fact that history is simply a fascinating story.”   

So, the scenario might go like this. The senior writes, “I’m a Vietnam war veteran who saw lots of action and got wounded. I wondered why I was in Vietnam in the first place.” The students write back, “You were answering the call from your country and your sense of duty. Tell us more about your experience.” And the discussion would continue.

Wells and DeDentro will assign responses to student groups based on what the senior is writing about. “This is about connection with people outside the students’ own realm,” explains Wells. “The world we live in has become so fast paced and digital, and I hope that the act of sending letters will bring some connectedness to the town,” says Wells. “Additionally, I think that it will be a really great thing for the stories of local seniors to be ‘told’.”

“I was thrilled,” says Senior Center Director Josie Dutil, “when the high school reached out to us with this idea. In a world where different generations seem to have little in common, a project like this reminds us of the ways that we are all the same - we are all in need of connection. Our seniors have so many incredible stories to share, stories of how life used to be in Bellingham and of how much things have changed over the years. I’m excited for the local history our high school students will discover through the ‘elders’ in our community.”

Bernadette Rivard oversees the town library. “As a librarian and in my role as the Secretary of the Bellingham Historical Commission, this collaboration between the schools and the seniors to become pen pals and learn more about each other is a fantastic opportunity for Bellingham to record these intergenerational stories. We are hoping that some participants will be willing to share their correspondence with us so we can tell their stories in upcoming or future editions of The Crimpville Comments, The Bellingham Historical Commission’s newsletter.”

The students plan to create a website in April next year to present all the stories collected during the pen pal phase. They may even create printed copies – maybe even a book – to fully report on all the information they have collected.  

Wells says she doesn’t know if something like this has been done in neighboring towns.  And adds that “this kind of civics project is new in Massachusetts.”

If you are a senior who would like to participate or have questions, then please email Wells
at [email protected] or DeDentro at [email protected] You can also call the Senior Center at (508) 966-0398.