Given today’s technology, the concept of sending a “wish you were here”-type correspondence by so-called snail mail may seem rather quaint. But consider the reaction of certain Pine-Richland students on the receiving end. “It’s like that scene from ‘Willie Wonka’ where he has the golden ticket,” Alexandra Batouyios said.
“They’re waving it in the air: ‘I have a postcard!’” She joined fellow world language teachers Sarah Mlaker and Meghan Duran in coordinating “It’s a Small World,” a project for youngsters in fourth through sixth grades at Eden Hall Upper Elementary School. The goal was to collect postcards from all 50 states and at least 25 countries, and it turned out even better than that, with 40 nations represented from among nearly 500 cards mailed. “When the project started, I’ll be honest.
I didn’t know if it was actually going to take root or not,” Batouyios said. “I was even thinking, how many people do I know in the United States and how many people do I know in other countries?” She planned to tell them: “Hey, this project is going to be a flop unless you send us something.” Then the first postcard arrived, from a student’s grandparents who live in the Venango County community of Kennerdell, about an hour and a quarter north of Eden Hall.
“When I came in and saw it in my mailbox, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was like, I think this is going to work!” Batouyios recalled. “After that, things started really roll.
