PTO Publishes Student Writers

If you think great parent involvement only happens in fairy tales, look no further than Daniel Webster Elementary in Marshfield, Mass., for a reality check. A team of talented and creative PTO leaders implemented a literacy program, Magical Mailbox, that puts students’ ideas in print in a magazine called Creative Quills. We spoke with Kimberly McMahon, the Mailbox managing editor, to learn about Webster Elementary PTO and their enchanting initiative.

How does the Magical Mailbox work?
When students finish writing and revising, they attach the submission form and drop their entry in the shiny silver mailbox near the school library.

What inspired the program?
I initiated it after learning about the original Magical Mailbox in Connecticut [where it’s part of a state-sponsored arts curriculum]. This idea seemed like a fun way to motivate students in our school to become more impassioned about their own personal writing process, the joy of writing for writing’s sake, not for a few hours but throughout the school year.

What’s required for parents to participate with their children?
For most parents, all it takes is supporting a young writer who wants to give the mailbox a try. Sign the submission form and check for spelling, grammar, and legibility, and encourage some editing on the child’s part. Parents can also be very involved in the program itself, which requires typists, folks who can scan art, reliable people who can bind, collate, proofread, shuttle materials around town, etc. We have volunteers who can hand the magazines out either at an assembly or at lunchtime, and volunteers who write positive comments on each original before it goes back to the student author. Each month can use 10-20 hours of work, but everyone says it doesn’t feel like work.

Has your group experienced any benefits?
I think the Magical Mailbox program has enhanced our PTO’s other dimension, beyond fundraising—it is helping build a home-school connection and a sense of community. We see the excitement when a new magazine is handed out, we see all the heads bending over the pages, we hear teachers saying, "You should write about that for the magazine!" We also have inspired three other elementary schools in our town to create similar magazines after they discovered it through word of mouth or happened upon a copy during an evening basketball game.

What are the plans now?
This year we began a new phase of the program to reach nonwriters, where the cover is designed by students. Our art teacher puts all the entries up on a bulletin board, but one is featured on the cover. We have talked about having an author’s night or breakfast so that young writers can share their words with others in a supportive, intimate setting. Speaking and listening are other important components of literacy, and it would be another way to involve parents in the process. Plus, poetry is so much better when it is read out loud!

The Group
Daniel Webster Elementary PTO, Marshfield, Mass.

School size: 400 students, grades preK-5
Budget: $10,000
Fundraisers: A jogathon, Sundaes With Santa, and a family picnic. The goal is to have 100 percent of proceeds go back to the school.
Mission statement: Our hope is that children will be encouraged and inspired to strive for excellence in writing while building community as we grow and learn together.

Program Profile
Magical Mailbox and Creative Quills

The process: Students submit stories, artwork, or both. Volunteers log entries, edit each submission for content and legibility, scan the artwork, and type up materials. After another round of editing, production coordinator Kim Rose does a final editing check, creates the magazine, and prints out a master copy. High school students copy and bind the black-and-white spiral-bound magazine.

Volunteers needed: Nine "core parents," but, McMahon says, "We started with two of us and managed!"

Cost to run: $200 annually, provided by Webster Elementary PTO. They receive some donations of paper.

Frequency: 25 to 75 student submissions monthly, seven issues per year. November’s Creative Quills was 60 pages.

Magical connections: Kim Rose says the program has served as a stepping stone to leadership positions in the PTO. Besides Volunteer Coordinator Andrea Hays and Copresident Marissa Qualter, one dad who scans artwork is the new treasurer and another mom has become vice president.

Tips for success: Along with the submission form, program leaders distribute a packet for parents with poetry techniques, family writing activities, and a list of writing materials to keep at home.