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You’ve Got Mail Local middle schoolers and older adults became pen pals to combat pandemic loneliness By Cl ai re Del ano | Photography by J ohn Mi chael Si m pson
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acing another stretch of at-home instruction back in September 2020, Raquel Harris, an English language arts (ELA) teacher at Culbreth Middle School, realized her seventh grade students could use some connection. Her neighbor Dr. Donna Miller, the medical director at Carolina Meadows retirement community, also saw the toll the pandemic was taking on her residents. “We got to talking about how great it would be if my lonely students and her lonely residents could help one another 46
chapelhillmagazine.com November 2021
during the pandemic’s restrictiveness,” Raquel says. Soon, they had an idea: what if the middle schoolers and Carolina Meadows residents became pen pals? Raquel’s ELA co-teacher, Linda Kroger, had her seventh grade class join the project, bringing the total to more than 200 students. From there, each student was paired with a resident. “The volunteers at Carolina Meadows did an amazing job of matching each child to an adult who shared similar interests or had a connection in some way,” Raquel says.