Lisbon Students Video Conference with Wiscasset Students‏

Lisbon – Generations of children, past and present, have made friends through pen pals.  Some friendships last a lifetime even though some pals never get the chance to actually meet each other.  On Wednesday, March 30 pen pals at Lisbon Community School (LCS) and Wiscasset Primary School (WPS), had the opportunity to meet each other without a bus trip or a carpool.  Thanks to a video conference provided by the technology personnel at both schools, students were able to meet each other via the Internet.  Third grade LCS students in Sue Hardison’s class and WPS teacher Karen Erdmann’s students have been co-teaching communication skills with their students since the beginning of the school year by writing letters to each other.  “Students were thrilled to use their letting writing skills with kids their own age and everyone looked forward to receiving mail,” shares Hardison.  “Integrating the video conference component was a natural extension for content learning and exploration.  The adventure was most successful for both schools and we look forward to future endeavors.  Aside from the traditional classroom lessons students experienced real-life telecommunications and networking.”

Lisbon Community School third grade teacher, Sue Hardison, (left) along with third grade Wiscasset Primary School teacher, Karen Erdmann, introduced students to each other during a video conference as part of their unit of studies in letter writing.  Students have been pen pals since the beginning of the school year.  Photo by James Churchill.