{"id":88228,"date":"2018-04-18T14:13:24","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T18:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/?p=88228"},"modified":"2018-04-18T16:53:58","modified_gmt":"2018-04-18T20:53:58","slug":"first-class-mail-mortar-board-delivers-for-esl-pen-pals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2018\/04\/18\/first-class-mail-mortar-board-delivers-for-esl-pen-pals\/","title":{"rendered":"First Class Mail: Mortar Board Delivers for ESL Pen Pals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sixteen children ran from office door to office door on an intercontinental scavenger hunt in Combs Hall. They carried a crayon in one hand, a homemade passport in the other, searching for UMW professors who, like them, had come from all over the globe.<\/p>\n

On the doors hung signs with flags from the professors\u2019 native countries \u2013 China and Chile, Mexico and Jordan, Cuba and Spain \u2013 and the languages they spoke \u2013 English, Arabic, French, Italian, Spanish.<\/p>\n

A pen pal program between UMW Mortar Board members and English language learners at Lafayette Upper Elementary School in Fredericksburg began as just that. But a monthly exchange of letters created unexpected bonds. It culminated this week at UMW, where the ultimate scavenger hunt prize was the chance to see just how far their language skills might take them.<\/p>\n

Even if they didn\u2019t know it yet.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"UMW <\/a>
UMW Mortar Board president Madalyn Rymer ’18, center, started a pen pal program with English-language learners at Lafayette Upper Elementary School in Fredericksburg last semester. On April 17, the pen pals met for the first time during a campus field trip. (Suzanne Rossi) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Ana <\/a>
Ana Johnson ’16, center, is now an ESL teacher at Lafayette Upper Elementary School in Fredericksburg. It was her idea to bring her students to UMW for a visit. (Suzanne Rossi) <\/div> <\/div>
\"During <\/a>
During the field trip, students from Lafayette Upper Elementary School in Fredericksburg met professors who also speak other languages. (Suzanne Rossi) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Local <\/a>
Local ESL students take part in a scavenger hunt in Combs Hall, where they had to find professors who also grew up speaking a language other than English. (Suzanne Rossi) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Ana <\/a>
Ana Johnson ’16, left, now an ESL teacher in Fredericksburg, reunites with UMW Spanish Professor Maria Laura Bocaz, who organized activities for a UMW field trip this week. (Suzanne Rossi) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The project started in September, when UMW Mortar Board president Madalyn Rymer \u201918 wanted a unique way to promote literacy as part of the national honor society\u2019s Reading is Leading initiative.<\/p>\n

Rymer sent an email to Lafayette\u2019s principal, asking if its members could start a pen pal program with students who were learning to speak English. The request landed with an ESL teacher who had a surprising connection to UMW.<\/p>\n

Ana Johnson was a 2016 graduate. She\u2019d arrived in the U.S. in 2011 from Colombia, where she was studying to become an ESL teacher in her native country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came here to improve my English. Then I stayed. I didn\u2019t want to go back,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

She loved the idea of a pen pal program between her students and her alma mater. Once a month, Rymer showed up at Lafayette with a bundle of letters for Johnson\u2019s students, who couldn\u2019t believe that someone was writing to them.<\/p>\n

The ESL students wrote back. In the distinctive scrawl of a child, they thanked Rymer and the others for their letters. They wrote about their favorite food, their favorite color, their favorite TV show and video game. They wrote about what they wanted to be when they grew up. They folded their letters in homemade envelopes they decorated with flowers and trees, polka dots and tiny hearts.<\/p>\n

It turned out the UMW students looked forward to the letters almost as much as the grade schoolers. Inspired by the artwork, Rymer said, Mortar Board members started decorating their envelopes, too.<\/p>\n

By March, both groups were counting down the days to the Mary Washington field trip, where the pen pals would meet face-to-face for the first time. It was Johnson\u2019s idea to bring them here, where she\u2019d been a student just two years earlier.<\/p>\n

Johnson reached out to her former professors in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. They were eager to help arrange the visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cESL is one of the biggest contributions we have in education,\u201d said Spanish Professor Mar\u00eda Laura Bocaz. \u201cIf we had more people like Ana, the world would be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

She remembered her former student well. \u201cShe was brilliant. She was very generous. When students asked her for help, she was always there. She\u2019s genuinely interested in learning. She didn\u2019t study for the \u2018A.\u2019 She studied to learn, to get stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson hadn\u2019t forgotten her professors, either. \u201cI didn\u2019t believe a lot in myself. These teachers told me, \u2018You can do it. Keep going.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

This week, Johnson was back, now a teacher herself, hoping to impart to her own students all that she\u2019d been given.<\/p>\n

Rymer hoped the trip opened their eyes to all the opportunities before them. All that they might become.<\/p>\n

\u201cMary Washington has different ways of getting involved with the Fredericksburg community and the world,\u201d Bocaz said. \u201cWhen we see a former student like Ana having a huge impact, it makes me feel that what we do is important.”<\/p>\n

The third-, fourth- and fifth-graders arrived on a school bus just before 9 a.m. They got a mini tour of campus and checked out a dorm room. Then they headed to Combs to meet Bocaz, who handed out the passports made by Modern Languages office manager Jennifer Buist.<\/p>\n

The search took them to three suites of faculty offices on three floors. It took them to the classroom of Gonzalo Campos, an assistant professor of modern languages and literature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are learning Spanish. You are learning English,\u201d Bocaz told them. \u201cWe are in the same boat.”<\/p>\n

Before they headed to the UC for burgers and pizza and gelato, Bocaz had a reminder for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember you have the power of being bilingual,\u201d the professor said. \u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful gift. Be proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sixteen children ran from office door to office door on an intercontinental scavenger hunt in Combs Hall. They carried a crayon in one hand, a homemade passport in the other, searching for UMW professors who, like them, had come from all over the globe. On the doors hung signs with flags from the professors\u2019 native […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":831,"featured_media":88234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[704],"tags":[],"topics":[5146],"class_list":{"0":"post-88228","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"topic-diversity-inclusion","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFirst Class Mail: Mortar Board Delivers for ESL Pen Pals - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2018\/04\/18\/first-class-mail-mortar-board-delivers-for-esl-pen-pals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First Class Mail: Mortar Board Delivers for ESL Pen Pals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sixteen children ran from office door to office door on an intercontinental scavenger hunt in Combs Hall. 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