Project Success Pen Pals: Connecting Students Internationally 

May 5, 2021

Project Success’ Global Experiences program is centered around students and global citizenship: 

  • Building community and transporting students to a broader world 
  • Learning about oneself in the world 
  • Fostering friendship and understanding (especially during difficult times) 

Often this is done through the various trips Project Success offers abroad, introducing students to  the culture, art, history, and people of those countries they’re visiting. One such program has been the pen pals initiative, created during earlier PS trips to Mexico. During this pen pals process, weconnected our students to students in Mexico before their journey, and then they were able to meet each other in person once in the country. With students’ worldly exploration now limited because of the pandemic, Project Success expanded the pen pal program to create more global connections for our students from their homes. 

In spring 2020, Project Success adapted to a canceled Mexico trip by continuing existing pen pal relationships. Students were eager and excited to meet one another through their letters as the world around them shut down. Seeing the impact of connection via pen pals and an opportunity to connect even more students to potential new friends, the Project Success team innovated the program to include more students. A year later, more than 200 students have participated globally, resulting in 600+ correspondences between our students in Minneapolis and students from numerous schools located in  Mexico, Sweden, Brazil, Senegal, South Africa, and the Czech Republic. With safety guidelines in place to protect students and monitor communication, students interacted with each other predominately in English via video, audio recording, letter, and email. This allowed students to connect in their preferred format of communication, whether it was writing or speaking. This was especially important because many students abroad were practicing their English, a foreign/non-native language, with their new friends. However, if our students could speak in the same language as their pen pals, they were encouraged to express and explore communication in the language they both preferred. For students in Senegal and Mexico, translators were on hand to help with communication.  

Zoom Pen Pal Celebrations 

After months of exchanging letters back and forth, there were often opportunities for pen pals to meet each other via a PS supervised Zoom celebration. Through these Zoom calls, which included break-out rooms for smaller and more engaging interactions, students were able to expand and celebrate their now thriving friendships despite the thousands of miles that separated them. After the PS pen pals program concluded for them, some students continued their friendship and remained in contact over email or social media.  

Students shared feedback on how this experience has been meaningful to them. Sedreania stated, “[I was able to] get out of my comfort zone.” Elise shared that they enjoyed “learning about the [different] countries.” Rachel shared that they enjoyed “making new friends, learning about a different culture, and having connections with people from around the world… I have never had direct contact with someone from across the world or a different country before like this, and I have always wanted to!” 

While the future is everchanging and at times seems uncertain, Project Success believes it is more important than ever to nurture meaningful connections between our students and countries and people that differ from them, encouraging students to learn of other cultures — expanding on the knowledge of the world around them and themselves.