With college students enthusiastically using email to communicate, why not harness some of that energy and put it to use mentoring students in elementary and secondary schools? That's what Caroline Engel '05 was thinking when she came up with the idea for a program called BlitzBuddy last year.
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BlitzBuddy pairs elementary, junior high, and high school students nationwide with Dartmouth students in one-on-one, email-based mentoring relationships. The young students benefit from improving their English in real-world situations, and they learn typing skills as they become more comfortable with computers. The technological basis of the program allows the relationship to continue beyond graduation and through study abroad or during off terms.
"I've been involved with mentoring children since high school," says Engel, a pre-med and art history double major who worked as a swimming instructor for individuals with disabilities in her native Montreal. "BlitzBuddy is a way to continue that. Right now, I'm spending about six hours a day working on it, but it's definitely worth it."
Since the program launched in December, undergraduates interested in mentoring have flocked to it. Two hundred twenty Dartmouth students (over 5 percent of undergraduates) have applied already, and 94 pairs have begun writing to one another. Thirty-four teachers from across the United States—from Phoenix to Baltimore, and from New York to Houston—have expressed interest in the program.
In the past, pen-pal programs in K–12 schools have been common. And, in fact, Engel has set up a postal-system partnering option for students without access to email. But with college students increasingly traveling abroad, attending internships, and doing most of their work from computers, mailing letters seems slow and often is impractical. Engel says the program works because writing an email fits with the college lifestyle and students see it as a commitment they can keep.
"For the undergrad already sending hundreds of email messages a week, the opportunity to mentor a young person via email provides a great chance to share knowledge and give back in a way that works with [his/her] schedule," she says.
For a grade school student, emailing with a college-age friend who could be studying in Australia or working in the biology lab on an interesting experiment provides obvious benefits.
Engel is working through Teach for America to reach out to teachers across the country. She has received requests from several colleges, including Harvard, that want to replicate the program. "It's very exciting to see other schools picking up on BlitzBuddy and wanting to help," she says. "I really don't think there's any limit to how far this could develop."
- By James Donnelly
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