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| | Email this article • Print this article | The Traveling Trunk
by Betsy Frazier
Boarding buses the morning of May 6 to visit the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, Cannon Falls sixth graders were collectively nervous about what lay ahead of them. They were off to meet pen pals - fifth graders from Como Park Elementary, a school with an extremely diverse student population.
The sixth grade class of Missy Klapperich took part in the first Traveling Trunk project organized locally by Dina Fesler of Children's Culture Connection and funded by Cannon Falls Rotary Club. Como Park Elementary was chosen for the project because of its enrollment which includes Hmong, Liberian, African American, Hispanic, Korean, Native American and Caucasian American ethnic groups.
Corresponding with pen pals and swapping videos, tapes, books and other information about their home towns and schools helped prepare the students for their first face-to-face meeting.
"All of them were nervous about the first meeting and introductions," said Fesler, who accompanied the Cannon Falls class on the bus trip. She noted that several "ice breaker" activities were arranged. One included photos of pen pal teams "making stupid faces," which helped to get them acquainted with each other.
After the pen pals met, a tour of the History Center provided a backdrop for getting to know each other. The Cannon Falls students enjoyed the tour, however, as Jonah Callister put it, "We were all really shy at first." Some felt their pen pal didn't really like them much at first, and some noted that "they didn't look like I thought they would."
Madeline Carlson, whose pen pal was African-American, felt they "had a lot in common." Matt Lockett noted his pen pal was "kind of quiet. In his letters, he didn't seem like he would be quiet." All were happy to get to meet their partners face to face.
Using words like fun, exciting, surprising and interesting, the Cannon Falls students all agreed the Traveling Trunk was something they would enjoy doing again. A couple of the students felt they would continue to correspond with their pen pals. Most felt they would wait and see if the St. Paul students wrote first.
Organizer Dina Fesler plans to encourage the Cannon Falls students to make the move in keeping the correspondence going into the future. "We need to nudge these kids out of their comfort zones," she says.
"A couple of really amazing friendships seemed to be coming from the project," said Fesler. "Girls with arms linked and happily communicating was fun to see. We were extremely happy with how the Traveling Trunk project turned out. The students took it very seriously."
Teacher Missy Klapperich described the project: "I really enjoyed piloting this for Cannon Falls Schools. I have always had a love for anthropology, especially the study of other cultures. This project has allowed us to look into some other cultures within spitting distance of Cannon Falls that we otherwise may never have an opportunity to learn about. Como Park Elementary has a large Hmong population. One of the trunks they sent us contained many gorgeous pieces depicting the Hmong culture including dolls and a story quilt. They were absolutely beautiful!
"Now when I teach my students about Minnesota's newest immigrants, they will have names and faces to connect with the topic. This experience taught me a great deal about children, and how their innocent nature allows them to be very open and accepting of new people and experiences.
"I believe it is up to the adults of this world to allow and encourage our children to remain kind, tolerant and accepting of the diversity around us. Watching the friendships formed the day we spent with our pen pals at the History Center was simply precious. I saw girls who had only met minutes before walking hand in hand throughout the museum. I saw students promising to write all summer and e-mail each other whenever possible. I saw piggyback rides and other fun games taking place during lunch. I believe this experience is a positive one the children will carry with them always."
The students must now complete the last assignment in the Traveling Trunk Project. That assignment is to write a follow-up letter to pen pals, telling the Como Park students that they enjoyed getting acquainted. With parents' permission, they can share their home address, keeping correspondence flowing during the summer.
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