'Grandfriend' pen-pal program joins Colman-Egan 6th graders with area seniors

For more than ten years, a special program at Colman-Egan School has brought generations together.

It's called the Grandfriend Program and allows 6th graders to pair up with seniors and be pen-pals for the school year. KSFY News visited the school Friday afternoon for a special event.

"You got assigned a Grandfriend, you got to write letters to tell what you're doing in school, what you enjoy doing, talk back and forth all year. At the end of the year, we'll have an ice cream social to meet with your Grandfriend," 6th Grader Josie Mousel said.

Josie Mousel was paired with Jan Ellens who lives in Colman.

"It was pretty fun. You got to take time to write letters," Mousel said. "We talk about sports, what we're doing over the summer, how Christmas or Easter was."

The two met for the first time on Friday at a social event with ice cream, cupcakes and entertainment.

"It's a nice project. It gets the young and the old to get to know a little bit about each other," Grandfriend Jan Ellens said.

Ellens says things are a bit different nowadays, but writing will always be something young people should work on.

"It is important I think. It's also important for them to know what it's like to write letters. Youngsters don't write letters anymore. It's all done on the internet and all that," Ellens said.