Mary Eby

Working together with fellow educator Mary Clark, Eby's "Getting To Know You" pen pal project blends the disciplines of social studies with language arts skills. In the program, second grade students from rural Southwest Iowa learn about cultural diversity and improve writing skills through participating in a pen pal exchange program with students attending a large inner city school in Omaha. The pen pal project promotes an awareness of the cultural differences and similarities between rural and urban communities and encourages interactive relationships between students, parents, teachers and the community. Students correspond on a monthly basis with their pen pals, exchanging letters, pictures and stories, and learning about each other's communities. In the program's culminating event, the students host their Omaha pen pals for a field trip to a local farm.