Vernon sophomores send letters throughout U.S.

VERNON — Sophomores in Marianne Longchamps’s English class at Vernon Township High School recently received an invitation they could not refuse — to participate in the Great American Mail Race.

The invitation, from Mount Ida High School in Arkansas, came as a letter from 10th-grader Samantha, telling about her school and her life and asking Vernon students to respond to her questions about life here. The Vernon students were then challenged to each pick a state, to find a high school in that state on Google, and then to send a letter to the 10th graders there. One of the Vernon students actually sent a letter to North Pole High School in Alaska.

Longchamp said her students were inspired to learn the art of letter writing, especially since much of their communication is truncated and digitized. Even though it may seem a bit old fashioned, the letters could convey their warmth and personalities much more clearly than social media does. They are also excited to receive responses from their individual schools. The best-case scenario is they receive 50 letters from sophomores all over the country.

Now, all they do it wait for the snail-mail.