Mrs. Smith, the middle school social studies teacher at New Haven Middle School, gets all of her eighth grade students to write letters to themselves to read whenever they become seniors. Mrs. Smith first started doing this 18 years ago, her first year at New Haven. When asked why she does it, Mrs. Smith responded,”Eighth graders are on the verge of becoming young adults, and it’s interesting for them to see how they have changed as a person in a course of 4 years.”
The students receive the letters during the end of their senior year. Mrs. Smith says, “Some students forget about the letters, but others remember writing the letters in the eighth grade. Erica Kotthoff had been asking me for weeks when she was going to get her letter that she wrote to herself.” Mrs. Smith mentioned how students would come back to her, telling her how much they had changed, turning their lives around from a troublemaker to a mature young adult in the course of 4 years.
This year’s seniors just recently got their letters back, and some mentioned what they had put in theirs. Dylan Goodwin, who doesn’t even remember writing the letter, says,”In my letter, I wished that by my senior year that I would be the tallest in my class.”
Willy Schejbal remembered writing his letter. “I was just as cool back when I was in eighth grade as I am now. And just as hilarious. Handsome, too. but I digress,” said Willy. He thinks that the letters are a great idea. “Absolutely a great idea writing the letters, except she should give more time to write them. I remember having a time crunch when I wrote mine.”
Most students found their letters to be rather comical, but not everyone. “I think it is heartbreaking; that was over 4 years ago, and it seems like yesterday,” Trista Kormeier mentioned. “I wrote about my best friends at the time, and it is amazing how much people have changed.” Trista thinks the letters are an amazing idea, and she is happy she wrote one to herself.
The seniors that wrote letters to themselves said that they enjoyed reading the letters. Lindsey Nixon said,”She definitely should keep doing this. It's neat to be able to see what was going through our minds when we were still in middle school.” Students find reading these letters really enjoyable and are glad Mrs. Smith brought this idea to New Haven.
-Alex Madden
This year’s seniors just recently got their letters back, and some mentioned what they had put in theirs. Dylan Goodwin, who doesn’t even remember writing the letter, says,”In my letter, I wished that by my senior year that I would be the tallest in my class.”
Willy Schejbal remembered writing his letter. “I was just as cool back when I was in eighth grade as I am now. And just as hilarious. Handsome, too. but I digress,” said Willy. He thinks that the letters are a great idea. “Absolutely a great idea writing the letters, except she should give more time to write them. I remember having a time crunch when I wrote mine.”
Most students found their letters to be rather comical, but not everyone. “I think it is heartbreaking; that was over 4 years ago, and it seems like yesterday,” Trista Kormeier mentioned. “I wrote about my best friends at the time, and it is amazing how much people have changed.” Trista thinks the letters are an amazing idea, and she is happy she wrote one to herself.
The seniors that wrote letters to themselves said that they enjoyed reading the letters. Lindsey Nixon said,”She definitely should keep doing this. It's neat to be able to see what was going through our minds when we were still in middle school.” Students find reading these letters really enjoyable and are glad Mrs. Smith brought this idea to New Haven.
-Alex Madden
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