Pals

Differences disappear when
students get together face-to-face.

JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER

joined in the game and discovered they
each played on baseball teams called
the Cardinals.
"This has been fun," said Ellie, who
was wearing a St. Louis Cardinals hat.
None of children talked about reli-
gion or skin color. Erica Johnson, a stu-
dent at Parker, said they were there
just to have fun and meet their pen
pals.
Mrs. Rothberger originally formulat-
ed the program when her former stu-
dents asked questions about the Hebrew
Memorial Park Cemetery, which is a
short distance from Parker.
"The children at Parker are limited

in their exposure to Jewish people,"
Mrs. Rothberger said. "For some, their
only exposure is the cemetery."
Like many of their classmates, Au-
drey Kleiman and her Parker Ele-
mentary pen pal Sandra Joyner talked'
about what they do at school, when
their birthdays are and their favorite
colors.
Audrey and Sandra discovered they
both like blue and each has two sisters.
"At first, I was not sure what religious
restrictions they might have," said Lin-
da Ruff, a Parker Elemen School
fifth-grade teacher. "It surprisedme how
similar they (the students) are." 0

PHOTOS BY DANIEL LIPPITT

TH E DETRO IT J EWIS H NEWS

A friendly game of
hoops between
Parker and Akiva.

14

ince January, Ellie Rothstein, 10, and
his classmates at Akiva Hebrew Day
School have been writing to their pen
pals, a fifth-grade class in Clinton
Township.
Teachers from each school, along
with Risha Rothberger, the Akiva prin-
cipal and a former educator at Clinton
Township's Parker Elementary, es-
tablished the program so that the two
classes could learn about children dif-
ferent from themselves.
Throughout the year, letters were
exchanged and each class sent a video-
taped message to their pals.
Last week, at the conclusion of the
program, the Akiva students traveled
to Parker Elementary to play softball
and hang out.
"When the students met, it took lit-
erally 30 seconds before they had a
baseball game organized," Mrs. Roth-
berger said.
After Ellie met his pen pal, they

Bina Rabinowitz
swings with her pen
pal Quinnita Stevens.

Audrey Kleiman
and her pen pal
Sandra Joyner.