On May 27, a line of folding tables and metal folding chairs occupied the sidewalk outside of Rippleside Elementary in Aitkin. Each table had been assigned a number and large cookies and apple juice adorned the surfaces.
At one table, Mason Bourassa, a third grader at the school, sat across from Judy Anakkala, grandmother and former Rippleside Elementary school guidance office employee, chopping into a large cookie while Anakkala asked questions. The two were meeting in person for the very first time.
They weren’t strangers by any means, though. Bourassa and Anakkala had been writing letters to each other since October through the Grand Friends Program.
The Grand Friends Program is a collaboration between Aitkin County CARE, Aitkin Community Education and the Northland Foundation. At the beginning of the year, older adults in the community are paired with third graders. As part of the third grade writing curriculum, the pairs exchange a series of hand written letters to each other throughout the year.
In the past, the pairs would meet at the beginning of the school year before exchanging letters but due to COVID-19 were not able to meet this year.
Lara Parkin, director of Aitkin Community Education, thought this had made for a more interesting year.
“They’ve been getting to know each other without ever meeting each other,” she said. “It’s like a blind date kind of thing.”
One thousand letters have been exchanged over the course of the year.
“Some of these grandparents have been writing letters two to three times a month,” Parkin said, “so we decided to have a little outdoor meet and greet at the end of the school year so that they could meet their people in person.”
Rippleside Elementary has been doing this program for 20 years. Leslie Goble, one of the program founders, participated in this year’s program and was there to meet her pen pal Parker for the very first time.
“I got some nice letters from him this year,” Goble said. “I especially liked the Christmas card, the pop-up Christmas card, that was beautiful.”
If community members are interested in participating as a grandparent next year, Parkin encourages them to contact Rippleside Elementary Community Education at 218-927-2115 ext 2153 to get on the list.
June 03, 2021 at 01:39AM
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Come meet me over apple juice and cookies - Aitkin Independent Age
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