Fifth graders in the MCPS Gifted and Talented program are getting some extra practice with their cursive writing and a unique way to interact with the MCPS Student Ambassadors thanks to a project organized by the district’s new Gifted and Talented teacher for elementary school, Jenna Smith.
Smith is collaborating with the MCPS Student Ambassadors on a Cursive Pen Pal program, where fifth graders in the GT program have an on-going correspondence with the Student Ambassadors in the form of handwritten letters in cursive. Smith worked with her fifth graders to craft their first letters, which the Student Ambassadors received during their annual first semester retreat. The older students then wrote their responses which Smith delivered.
“Their excitement really flourished when I told them the high school students were excited about reading their letters and writing their replies,” Smith said. “At first, some were a little hesitant about the cursive, especially some of the boys, but now everyone really seems to be on board because it really feels like they have a pen pal instead of just an assignment.”
If all goes as planned, Smith sees the project serving dual purposes: first, it gives students more practice with their cursive, but it’s also a way for the Student Ambassadors to serve as mentors to younger students.
“Originally it was about cursive and getting to know each other,” Smith said. “But now I’d like to see it also become a mentor project and for the fifth graders to learn more about what they can expect when they get to high school. In fact, one of the ambassadors wrote in her letter that the choices you make now and the work ethic you show will have effects later. In some ways, it’s already become a mentoring program.”
Serving as mentors is nothing new to the Student Ambassador program, according to MCPS Director of Communications and Student Ambassador advisor Jason Simpson.
“Throughout the program’s history, the MCPS Student Ambassadors have always taken on mentoring initiatives,” Simpson explained. “Usually, this meant arranging for our ambassadors to visit an elementary or middle school, but now we’re doing so without interrupting class time. It’s really just a new way of thinking about how the ambassadors can be student leaders.”
The project also helps the district meet a relatively new legal requirement. In 2024, Kentucky passed a law requiring cursive writing to be taught in elementary schools, with students to be proficient in cursive by the end of the fifth grade. However, it’s not always easy to work in additional requirements to an already busy school day.
As a former classroom teacher in a nearby school district, Smith noted that she saw firsthand how cursive instruction can begin to wane as students enter the upper grades of elementary school.
“Sometimes it feels like a lost art,” she said. “But it’s important to be able to read cursive for historical documents and to sign your signature [...] having taught second and third grade, I see the importance of maintaining cursive practice beyond the grades where you first learn it.”
First-year Student Ambassador Alice DeAtley, a junior at MCHS, said she was on-board with the project in part because she remembers learning to write in cursive but then the skill fading.
“I learned cursive in the third grade, but it eventually fizzled out,” DeAtley said. “So it’s exciting to me to see younger students learning to write in cursive and being encouraged to write in cursive. I think it’s super important because I think everyone should at least be able to read it so you can read historical documents.”
DeAtley said she still occasionally writes in cursive, but typically writes more in print. In fact, she had a small learning curve when she drafted her letter.
“I did struggle a bit with it because it’s been awhile since I’ve written entirely in cursive,” she said with a laugh. “But I eventually got more comfortable with it and started writing much quicker.”
In their first letters, she and her pen pal discussed their favorite subjects in school and hobbies outside of school.
“The student I’m writing with seemed really sweet, so I’m excited to get the next letter,” she said. “I think it’s going to be really good for kids and I think they’re going to have fun with it.”
Fellow Student Ambassador and MCHS junior Katie Mattingly also had good things to say about the project so far.
“It’s really fun to interact with younger students, even through writing,” Mattingly said. “I think it’s important to learn cursive, but it’s also important to learn from others like older students and this project obviously does both.”
Mattingly’s pen pal seemed especially interested in learning about her and the way things operate at the upper grades.
“She seemed very excited and wanted to discuss what we do at the high school and what things I like, like favorite foods, colors, those types of things,” Mattingy said, adding, “I really had fun writing my letter. It’s one of my favorite things we’ve done as Student Ambassadors. I’m very excited about getting my next letter.”
The pen pals were assigned randomly and Smith had planned for her students’ next letters to be ready to go out for delivery by the end of October. However, one fifth-grader insisted on having her second letter completed and delivered before the district’s fall break.
“I think that goes to show that so far this has really been a success,” Smith said.
Among several other areas, Leadership is a category where students can be identified as gifted. While not all of the Gifted and Talented fifth graders are identified in that area, several of them serve as ambassadors at their elementary school, and because of the pen pal project, more might consider taking on those types of leadership roles in the future.
“One of my students said he hadn’t signed up to be an ambassador at his school, but after reading his first letter and learning about the opportunities his pen pal has, he told me he might think about it next year because it sounded cool,” Smith said.
Smith is hoping for the pen pals to exchange letters five or six times throughout the entire school year, and there’s a possibility the project might conclude with the pen pals getting to meet in person.
“There’s a chance I might organize a field trip so they can all meet,” she said. “But that’s not for certain. Right now we’re going to focus on getting the letters written and delivered.”
The project is also aligned with the district’s push to scale back the use of technology. Some schools in the district have dedicated screen-free days, but in general the district has stressed that using technology, including Chromebooks, isn’t always the best for students.
“There’s still something special about receiving a handwritten letter,” Smith said. “And the way their faces lit up when I watched them read the letters and when I’d hear them whisper to their friends about what they wanted to write about or ask about in their next letter, that’s been really rewarding.”
