December 12, 2001

Pen pals reach out to N.Y. students

CHS also makes squares for Sept. 11 quilt project

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       Reaching out in a personal way, Eric Moore, a 11th grade student at Traverse City Central High School, is doing his part to help students at a school in Manhattan. Being a pen pal of a student at a school that is three miles from Ground Zero, Moore hopes that he can provide an outlet for fear or grief - or just be a friend.
      "I told him who I was and about myself and that he could talk to me about anything, I was here for him," Moore said of the pen pal he recently contacted via e-mail. "Mrs. Bowen told me that he had to walk home after the attack because all the bridges were closed."
      Moore is one of 40 Central students who are part of the New York/Traverse City School Project, which hopes that peer-to-peer contact can help promote healing of students directly affected by September 11 terrorist attacks.
      Sponsored by Pat Bowen, secretary to Principal Steve Trahair, the NY/TC pen pal project will be corresponding with students from Dwight High School in Manhattan. Dwight is a small school with only 410 students. It is an international school, with students form 37 countries.
      So far only Moore has received a name to write to, though others hope to have their matches soon.
      Students in NY/TC also hope to travel to Manhattan in either February or March to visit the school and Ground Zero. The want to meet their pen pals and perform some community service, perhaps by serving meals to workers at the World Trade Center site.
      "When September 11 happened, everybody was going to donate blood, but I'm not old enough to do that," Moore said. "This is a chance for me to participate and help out."
      Central High School's liaison officer, Dennis Padgett of the Traverse City Police Department, conceived the idea for NY/TC School Project in November. Padgett thought that with so much money already raised there must be a better - more personal - way to help.
      "I also felt that people, especially at this time of the year, get tired of everyone walking around with their hands out asking for money," he said. "I felt there needed to be a warmer way to reach out."
      Padgett floated his idea past the administration, teachers, the School Senate and Students Against Drunk Driving. It was a hit. Using the Internet, Bowen found a school in Manhattan interested in participating in the project.
      Within a week, students were meeting, making plans for pen pals and their upcoming trip. Students also plan to raise money to give to students at the school, some of whom lost a parent in the terrorist attacks.
      "Words cannot describe my feelings for the kids and how they've taken to this," Padgett said. "Essentially, they are doing it all. I'm just very proud of all the staff at the school as well as the kids, who have been putting so much enthusiasm into it."
      At their meeting last Thursday afternoon, 15 members of the NY/TC School Project worked on quilt squares. Each student decorated an 8-inch by 8-inch felt square, which will be included in the nationwide September 11th Quilt Project, geared to promote nationwide healing after the event.
      For Katie Mack, a 11th grade student in the project, participating is a way to give back.
      "It feels like we can give something back to our country after someone took so much away," she said. "This is a way to restore our pride and the country's spirit."
      "I'm really excited about having a pen pal. I want to get to know the people out there and find out what they need and what we can do for them."