Bringing Letter Writing Back to the Classroom

Dear Penny Pals,

It’s hard to believe it’s been a little over two months since Postal Penny officially launched. Since then, books and bundles have made their way to homes across the country, and I’ve loved watching this little idea begin to find its place in the world.

But last week, Postal Penny went somewhere especially exciting for the very first time: into the classroom.

As a former teacher, walking back into a classroom felt strangely familiar—but this time I wasn’t carrying lesson plans. I was carrying a book I had written.

I traveled to Tennessee for Postal Penny’s first author visit at Riverside Elementary School, where I got to read The Adventures of Postal Penny with students, talk about what it means to be an author, and—my favorite part—talk about letters.

We talked about how exciting it feels to find something in the mailbox with your name on it. We talked about who we might write to and what we might say. And as I looked around at all those little hands going up, I was reminded of something I’ve believed since the beginning of Postal Penny:

Kids aren’t uninterested in handwriting and letters. They just need to be invited into it. 

That moment was a sweet reminder of why I created Postal Penny in the first place. In a world where so much of our communication happens through screens, there is still something incredibly special about slowing down, picking up a pencil, and creating something for another person.

And after spending the day with these students, I’m more convinced than ever that kids want opportunities to do that.

This was Postal Penny’s very first school visit, and I have a feeling it’s only the beginning.

There are a lot more classrooms I’d love for Penny to visit, a lot more letters waiting to be written, and hopefully a lot more excited little faces discovering that sometimes the best kind of message isn’t the one that pops up on a screen.

Sometimes, it’s the one waiting for you in the mailbox.

Until the next letter,

Chelsea