An academic year’s worth of both young and seasoned writers’ correspondences recently culminated with students and senior citizens coming together to meet face to face, share a meal and strengthen generational bonds.
For the past 10 years, the Pen Pal Club at Saint Michael the Archangel Regional School, Clayton, has engaged fourth- through eighth-graders in letter-writing with seniors, at least once a month if not more, in an initiative designed for students “to learn how to respect the elderly, pray for them, and let them know they care,” says Sister Bianca Camilleri, FMIHM.
In the waning weeks of the academic year, the pen pals gathered at the school for a luncheon, conversation and skits put on by the students.
“I have been blessed with six wonderful students, and I am very proud of their accomplishments,” says Anna Contrevo, a senior pen pal for the past eight years. The children “are interested in my activities, vacations, grandchildren,” among other facets of her life.
She has involved her two sisters, niece, sister-in-law and friends in the program, and “they all feel as I do. Thank you, Sister Bianca, for your love and guidance in the lives of every student.”
Also feeling the love at the luncheon was fourth-grader Avery Scharnagl. Her pen pal, Jean Lucas, 77, helped calm her nerves about singing in front of the group.
“She doesn’t have to be nervous – she’s going to be great,” Lucas says with a smile.
For Scharnagl and Lucas, the day included an exchange of gifts, with the youngster receiving a stuffed Shih Tzu dog similar to Lucas’ own dog, Bella May. In one of their handwritten letters, Scharnagl had asked Lucas about her favorite color. So, when they met, she gave the senior a yellow bracelet in return.
The friendships formed don’t end with the luncheon. The seniors are remembered in students’ daily prayers and at Sunday Masses. During the year, they are also invited to special school Masses and services.
Sister Bianca started the project in 1998 while at Holy Saviour Regional School in Westmont. She continued it in Collingswood when she moved to Good Shepherd Regional School before retiring, arriving in Clayton and beginning it at Saint Michael.
Although retired, Sister Bianca keeps a busy schedule; in addition to her role leading the initiative, she is also school librarian and moderator of the Rosary club.
At the beginning of each school year, senior citizens of Saint Michael the Archangel Parish and surrounding areas, including the sick, elderly, and homebound, are invited to participate.
Assisting in this process is the Diocese of Camden’s VITALity Catholic Healthcare Services, which reaches out to its parish-based senior ministry programs throughout the Diocese.
Praising Sister Bianca as the “heart and soul” of the program, Deacon Jerry Jablonowski, VITALity’s executive director, says that “it’s heartwarming to see the connection between the students and seniors who pass on their faith, knowledge and hope to the youth. These seniors see the future in the young Church.”
The program’s reputation goes beyond the Diocese, too. In 2020, the school’s club was recognized nationally by “Today’s Catholic Teacher” magazine, chosen as one of 12 schools in a field of 100 to win its Innovations in Catholic Education Award, in the Total Community Involvement category.
This past year, forty students and 70 seniors participated in the program, with some students writing to two senior pen pals. It’s likely those connections will continue, as students beginning in the club often maintain a written connection with the seniors for years, “knowing that they are being of service to their community and because of the relationships they have developed with their pen pals, who look forward to their letters,” says Kelly Riordan, the school’s advancement director.
The club, she says, has “stood the test of time and technology. … It benefits the student, senior and the community, creating a bond with memories that last a lifetime.”
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