MOUNT VERNON — On May 20, the Children’s Garden and its environs were filled with the sound of 350 children laughing, chatting and just plain having fun. The occasion was the sixth annual Pen Pal Day, sponsored by the Knox County Educational Service Center.
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Second-graders from Centerburg, Danville, East Knox and Fredericktown elementary schools have been corresponding with each other all year to meet one of the state academic content standards for language arts, writing personal letters. At Pen Pal Day, they got to meet their respective pen pals face to face and spent all day with their writing buddies, rotating through game stations that included sack races, putt putt and obstacle courses. Other activities included face painting, a photo shoot, bean bag and ring toss games and exploration in the Children’s Garden, all stations manned by ESC personnel, student and community volunteers.
One of the challenges in the obstacle course was a “tunnel” through which children had to crawl. Most handled it successfully, but one student was heard to remark, “You have to be a hamster!”
All the participants, when queried, said they were enjoying the day, and East Knox’s Blake Kennedy summed up the common response.
“I think it’s really fun,” he said, “and it’s good to spend time with my pen pal [Danville’s Riley Dawson.] We got to know each other when we were writing to each other. He’s really fun and funny. He’s fun to play with and we have so much in common. I wouldn’t have found that out if we hadn’t written to each other.”
