If you’ve heard your Roots student say “Fox told me…” or “In my letter from Bear…” it is because they have recently had the chance to correspond with a forest friend of their choice! Students in all classes wrote and received letters through our Forest Mailbox. Many chose to write to their spirit animals, others wrote to an animal that inspired intrigue.

We were very fortunate to have some special human messengers from the forest join our classes for this project. Judy Anderson joined the Tamaracks, Rhea James and Gabriell, Rocklynn, and Current Pulliam joined the Aspens, and Gayle Dixon was the forest liaison for the Ponderosa Pines.

Students drew pictures for their animals and dictated messages that teachers and volunteers wrote in their letters.

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Students were encouraged to ask questions and share thoughts with the animals in their letters. We sealed and labeled our envelopes and even gave them a stamp before putting them into the Mailbox. The Douglas Firs were able to share this moment with their families: they deposited their letters into the mailbox at pick-up with the help of parents and grandparents!

There is always much anticipation from the students after letters are mailed. Will the animals get the mail? How do they get the mail out of the box? Will they write back? The Ponderosa Pines became absolutely certain the animals received their letters when this beautiful fox stopped by during their class just a few days after the mail went out. It was a magical moment as a student could be heard whispering, “I think he got the letter.”

During the second week of this project, we received our replies! Volunteers and teachers returned to class laden with envelopes and the students were bubbling with excitement. The children listened attentively as each letter was read, giggling at jokes and comments from the forest animals. We learned amazing facts – that osprey have a reversible toe, salamanders can regrow limbs, and frogs may freeze during winter to survive – and the forest animals returned the affection that students expressed. For many, it was a special way to connect with the spirit animal that has kept them company at school all year.

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We had some great books from which to learn about letter writing: The Day the Crayons Quit, Dear Yeti, and Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. In each of these books, letters facilitate communication across a divide; frustrated crayons write to a child, curious hikers contact a friendly and mysterious yeti, and disgruntled farm animals make demands to a farmer.

We love the Forest Letters project because it inspires imagination and intrigue as well as excitement around reading and writing. We hope the joy our students felt when they received their forest mail will spark a passion for creative correspondence!