Episode Details

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They're reaching for the stars in Amy Geilman's class at West Jordan Middle School. It's part of a lesson in letter writing where students choose a famous person to reach out to with a formal letter. Then students wait for a response. On this episode of the Supercast, we talk with students who heard back from celebrities like Chris Pratt and former President Obama, even the Utah Jazz sent letters in return. Find out what students learned from writing and reaching for the stars. We're here at West Jordan Middle School to speak with Amy Geilman and some of her students about the project that has been going on for quite a number of years, writing celebrities and famous people for their autograph. Thanks for spending time with us today. Tell me a little bit about this project.

Teacher:
Sure. So I think we started maybe 15-16 years ago, doing this in an effort to help kids learn to introduce themselves in writing to someone they might not know and be a little more formal as they do. We talk about what makes a good letter, how to communicate, what are appropriate questions to ask or what is appropriate to ask for. We don't let them ask, please send me seven pairs of shoes or something like that. They have to be able to recognize and think about what kinds of questions would be good to get information about. And it's been really fun. We've received responses from lots of people over there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, what gave you the idea initially to start this project in your classes, your language arts teacher?

Teacher:
Yeah. I wanted the kids to do a piece of writing that would go public, so to speak. Now it was easier to publish something. Because it was a little bit harder to publish things, you know, back when I started doing it. I wanted them to see that writing was a real world activity that could lead to real world things. And I realized that a lot of the kids had not really sent letters to people and that still continues with a lot of students. Sometimes when I give them an envelope, they address the wrong side of it. They just have not done a whole lot of mailing like that. And so I wanted them to see that writing was a real world activity that people did that could lead to results of something. And this was a fun way to do that. And now that we do so much public writing on the internet, this is a good chance for me to talk about what kind of impression you're making through your writing and how you can present yourself in the best light.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you think a letter stands out more than it used to when a celebrity receives a letter from a middle school student?

Teacher:
Yes. I think that because a lot of my students have commented on a YouTube channel or put a comment on a gaming channel that they follow. But they haven't done something formal like this. And actually the longer we've done this, the more of a novelty. The letter part is where they actually get something physical. And I'm sure that the celebrities still receive a lot of physical fan mail, but probably not near as much as they used to. And so I do think it stands out.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, where do you find the addresses? How do you discover where to send that? I'm sure that's a little bit o