St. Joe’s Mercy Health employees connect with fourth graders in Warren through pen pal program
Working in a high-intensity hospital can be stressful. And so is being a fourth grader.
Being ten years old, you’re wondering about everything in the world, but it can also feel like school’s gotten more complex than ever.
Fourth graders at Jefferson Elementary School in Warren have connected via letters with employees working at St. Joseph Warren Hospital and staff at Mercy Health in Youngstown for 11 years.
Jefferson Elementary School fourth grade class
Charlotte Gardiner, president of St. Joseph Warren Hospital, said the annual Mercy Health pen pal program allows hospital staff members to share their life experiences with the curious kids.
Gardiner showed letters she’s received from her pen pal, Naveah, one of 84 students at Jefferson participating in the program.
“There’s this genuine connection we’re making with these kids,” said Gardiner. “It’s also given an outlet for the children to talk to another adult, about other topics of interest, and it’s a safe space for them.”
The pen pal program ends each year with a field trip for the students to St. Joe’s to meet their pen pals for the first time.
The field trips were put on hold during COVID-19 for patients’ and students’ safety. But the students and their pen pals can again tour the hospital departments like the Simulation Lab, where nurses and doctors are trained, see the hospital helicopter pad and take a walk in the Healing Garden at St. Joe’s.
“It’s nice to watch the team light up when they get to meet their pen pal,” said Gardiner. “It’s almost as exciting if not more so than watching the kids light up, because they really get excited about it. Sometimes working in a hospital is very challenging. So this is like a bright spot in the day.”
The St. Joe’s Mission fund provides kids with holiday ornaments and gifts during the winter, then a Mercy Health backpack full of gifts and a book selected by their pen pals at the field trip in May.
“The program is very rewarding for both the pen pals and the students,” Gardiner said. “They tell us what books they want. So in the field trip, they each get the books that they wanted to read for the summer. It’s wonderful to watch the smiles on the faces of the children when they received their books and backpacks. It’s also been great watching the leadership team at St. Joseph Warren Hospital in action.”
St. Joe’s also provided a clothing closet, gift cards and food for the elementary school students as part of their three-decades-long Adopt-A-School program.
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