Schools
Chicago Cubs Ambassadors Visit Mark DeLay School
Three team ambassadors came to the school in response to a second-grade letter-writing unit.
It never hurts to aim high.
During a unit on friendly letter writing this past fall, two classes of second-graders at Mark DeLay Elementary School wrote to the Chicago Cubs.
The baseball team's staff were so charmed by the students' letters that they didn’t just respond in writing — they sent three ambassadors to the school Thursday to meet the kids.
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The ambassadors shared fun facts about the Cubs, held a relay race and led the students in a trivia contest. They apologized that the players themselves couldn’t make it because they’re already in Arizona for spring training.
“(The students) really couldn’t believe someone would come all the way out here,” second-grade teacher Kristin Shell said.
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The letter-writing unit is intended to teach kids how to focus their writing and gear it toward a specific audience, Shell said.
Students in some of the other classes wrote to the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bears and Chicago Fire, as well as authors including Louis Sachar, Jan Brett and Dan Gutman. Some students got responses and others didn’t, but Shell said they made sure the kids understood they were writing to very busy people.
“But a lot of people do respond,” she said.
The gymnasium full of eager children sang "Go, Cubs, Go" to welcome the ambassadors and cheered wildly as select students were rewarded with raffle prizes.
The only hiccup in the day? When more than half the students raised their hands as White Sox fans.
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