By By MARCIA STEFFENS / Niles Daily Star
CASSOPOLIS – The idea at first might have been to improve writing skills, but the benefits were much more.
Students at Sam Adams Elementary School in Cassopolis have been writing to volunteers from the Cass County Council on Aging (COA) throughout the past school year.
On Tuesday, they got to meet their "Pen Pals" for the first time.
Though the adults knew they would eventually be meeting, it was a surprise for the students, according to Courtney Mann.
She said they learned late last week there would be a luncheon with their pen pals.
Mann was excited to finally meet, Betty Overholser, of Conrad Road in Howard Township, along with her fellow fifth graders, Nike Brunty, Hector Manzano and Lonny Duran.
"We got to talk about each other's family," Manzano said.
He added, Overholser was "a handsome and pretty lady."
Overholser found the program interesting as her previous experience was mostly with much younger children, first at her Montessori school, Bear Hollow for ages 3 to 6, and now as a tutor for those ages 5 to 10.
She has been very involved at the COA, participating in aerobics,, an adult writing project and even as a teacher, offering a home management resources class.
In the fall she will be teaching students from the Volinia Outcomes School for 10 weeks.
She has five of her own children and nine grandchildren.
Now she has some new friends, added Duran.
"I am really glad we got to meet," Flena Rubalcava of Jefferson Township said of her group of pen pals.
She was also glad to see Overholser, who taught her two granddaughters when they were younger.
Rubalcava promised her pals one more letter and said if they wanted they could continue to correspond.
"You can rely on their advice, not just your family's," said Courtney Kuemin, whose pen pal was Jackie Schricker of Dowagiac.
She also ate lunch with her two other pen pals, Cameron Hayden and Ciarra John.
Sometimes the students wrote out the letters and other times used a computer, Kayley Gay said.
Gay, along with other fifth graders Julian Edwards and Noah Woods, had Cassopolis Village Trustee Bill Bruneau, also pastor of Penn Friends Church in Cassopolis, as their pen pal.
"It's pretty cool. It helps us improve our writing skills and also is a fun activity," said Edwards.
"We can talk to somebody, relate and give ideas to them to get an opinion," Woods added.
"It gives me an opportunity to know what young people are thinking and connect to their generation," said Bruneau, who also participated last year in the program. He also said he will be seeing them as they grow in the community.
Miriam Bollweg of Cassopolis was handed more letters to read from her sixth grade pals, John Benjamin, Khalil Brown and Trevor Brown.
Trevor especially enjoyed the grilled hamburger lunch the COA and Cassopolis School District provided.
This was Bollweg's first year as a pal and she said she would do it again. "I am learning about kids, as I don't have any at home.
Some of the adults were presented fancy homemade cards from their pals, as was Debbey Proven,, human resources at the COA.
Her pals were Dominique Martin, Tammy Lee, Morgan Edwards, Logan Lawson and Megan Finfrock.
"You can talk about academics, but it is all about relationships," Proven said. "This is a life experience."
The COA took individual group photos of each set of pals.
Previously, the program was with students from Patrick Hamilton in Dowagiac.