As a part of the Teen Trendsetters program at Mission High School (MHS), students have been regularly working closely with mentee students at nearby Marcell Elementary School. The Teen Trendsetters prepare lessons in advance of each of their trips to Marcell.
One recent lesson was in response to a call for help from the Barbara Bush Foundation, looking for a school that would pen pal with students at a school in Maine. Since Mission CISD (Consolidated Independent School District) teachers are always looking for ways to incorporate writing across all curriculum areas, MHS volunteered to help through their Marcell mentees.
Writing the first letter was worked into a lesson by the high school mentors. During that process, the high school students thought it would be “cool” if they could have their own pen pals as well. So, while the high school students worked with their mentees on their first letter to Maine, Teen Trendsetter sponsor, Deanna Vallejo reached out to her counterpart in Maine to see if the high school counterparts in Maine would be pen pals with the MHS students.
Pictured are the MHS Teen Trendsetters with their Marcell mentees after completing their first pen pal letters. Vallejo hopes to have the high school pen pal arrangements made soon, as well as a possible video call between the two groups.