First Graders Write Letters To Obama

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Wauwatosa first-graders write letters to Barack Obama

By Amy Hetzner of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Dec. 16, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama might have consulted with hundreds of advisers over the course of his recently concluded campaign, but some Wauwatosa first-graders are hopeful they can catch his ear once he gets into office.

They think they have a secret weapon: themselves.

"He loves kids," said Gabbie Howell, a student at Jefferson Elementary School in Wauwatosa.

Gabbie and her classmates are sending letters to the incoming president, giving him words of advice and hope for his new administration that will be delivered after Inauguration Day next month.

The letter-writing project is part of a national campaign organized by Handwriting Without Tears as a way to encourage penmanship in a digital society.

Not only does it help students practice letter-forming, but they also can bring in all of their discussions about the political campaign, Jefferson school occupational therapist Terri Roller said.

"I hope that you will stop war because we need peace and quiet," wrote McKenna Tucker, one of several letters from Jefferson students that call on the president-elect to end military conflict.

The environment figured into a few missives as well. First-grader Zyan Murphy wrote: "I hope that you can clean the earth because I don’t want to step on glass."

Kamran Miszewski encouraged Obama to help give soup to the poor. Olivia Bowser wrote a letter that her teachers especially liked, asking Obama to help teachers receive more money. Hadley Jostson hopes the new president can stop people from killing animals.

A couple of students even mentioned high gas prices.

"You can tell what the parents talk about," teacher Dennyse Slawny said.

Students in teacher Angela Walsh’s class just started talking this week about what they might include in their letters.

During a brainstorming session, several brought up ending the war in Iraq. Others asked him to help people in poverty or poor health.

Keuane Gilbert passed on some advice that Obama will probably find harder to follow.

"Don’t talk to strangers," he said.

Remember when kids used to write letters to Santa this time of year?

Of course we can’t have that now, because of the separation of church and state.

– Hey, wait a minute.