For Joe Wright Elementary in Jacksonville, Texas, it is never too early to encourage students to start thinking about the possibility of going to college.

The school partnered with UK’s CI Connect Living Learning Program (LLP) for another year to put on “Pen Paws,” a program focusing on college preparedness that allows fourth grade students to send their inquiries about college life and in turn receive feedback from the freshmen of the LLP community.

Integrated Strategic Communications freshman Kasey Considine, a participant and student of the LLP, said she is most excited to hear all of the students’ questions about college and living in the residence halls with individuals that hold similar interests.

“I love working with kids and this is a great way to get involved with people outside of the community,” Considine said.

Considine said that although worried that they might lose a letter in all of the commotion or have someone forget to write, the people in charge of the project will make sure everything is “organized” and flows smoothly.

Alan DeSantis, the director of CI Connect’s LLP, said he believes there are an endless amount of benefits from implementing the program into the curriculum, as it builds a bridge for the elementary students who may not have had access to learning about higher education.

The college students of the LLP would also be impacted as the opportunity would provide a chance for them to learn more about another state and possibly bring them closer together as a community.

“It is something good we can do to nurture young kids and teach them to write,” DeSantis said. “As college students, there is a tendency to become ego-centric, but doing something like this makes us better humans.”

Communications Director Catherine Hayden, to whom the fourth grade teacher reached out to in order to reboot the program for a second time, said this activity produces interaction between students of varying demographic backgrounds and provides inspiration for those located in economically disadvantaged areas about attending college after high school.

“Kentucky students can create a path of success for these young individuals,” Hayden said. “I would love to see it continue and built into the curriculum.”

The reboot will hopefully inspire another group of children, though far away, to seek the prospect of higher education.

“I mean, what if this changes the path for a student who didn’t want to go to college?” Hayden said. “What if one of them came to UK eight years down the road because of a letter they received in the fourth grade?”