Writing Club reaches out to local students

By Joshua Wolfe

Every week, five of the Creative Writing Club members at Delaware Technical Community College Owens Campus write back to 23 second graders at H.O. Brittingham Elementary School through a pen pal program.

Creative Writing Club Co-President Adam Smith is one of the members participating in the pen pal program.

“Jennifer Morley, a professor at Delaware Tech, started the program this year as a fun project for the creative writing members to do,” Smith said.

Each club member who is a part of the program is assigned three to five second graders to write to each week in a composition notebook. The club members write on the left pages and the second graders write on the right pages.

The H.O. Brittingham second graders were chosen by an educational board to participate in the program.

“They also send us bookmarks and bracelets and draw pictures for us,” Club Treasurer Janessa Walker said.

Their conversations manage to cover a range of topics.

Walker said, “We talk about what they’re interested in, what they like to do for fun. One of them asked me how to deal with embarrassing stuff, so I get asked for a lot of advice.”

The pen pal program is more than just fun, according to the club members.

“Some things I write, I realize they may not understand it,” Walker said. “So then I will further explain in a simpler form so they learn new vocabulary.”

The pen pal program is looking to continue on into the next semester, which makes the club members happy. “I like that I’m making a positive impact on someone that doesn’t have a lot of experience in the world,” Walker said.

“I think that it’s interesting because the students have such a different perspective of the world,” Smith said. “And their train of thought is hilarious. It’s like, ‘I like dogs. Do you like pasta?’”

“Their innocence makes you hope that the world does not corrupt them,” Walker said.

The Creative Writing Club meets Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. and Fridays from 2:30- 4:30. For more information, contact Jennifer Morley at jmorley@dtcc.edu.