Thanks to a growing number of Dartmouth undergraduates, the inboxes of school-aged children around the nation are filling up fast.
Every week, 89 elementary, middle and high school students receive email from "BlitzBuddy" student mentors, chatting with them about anything from pets to college plans.
BlitzBuddy is a student volunteer program that pairs Dartmouth students with younger children in one-on-one email relationships. Organized and founded by Caroline Engel '05, the program aims to teach children good English grammar and spelling, typing skills and self-expression through letter-writing, friendship, responsibility and "positive use of the internet."
BlitzBuddy was launched Jan. 7, when a 10-year-old New Mexico boy and his Dartmouth student mentor began their correspondence. The idea for the program, though, came to Engel several months earlier, in fall of 2003.
"I identified a niche," Engel said. "There are college students who are blitz-addicted, constantly travelling, studying abroad, changing jobs and graduating, and who have hectic schedules. There are also children who could benefit from improving their typing skills, becoming familiar with computers, and improving their English in a real-world situation with real non-academic motivation."
She added that "pairing the two groups together, via this liquid technological base, just made sense."
Others, it appears, are agreeing.
After Teach for America started supporting the program in December 2003, educators from all over the United States started to take notice.
As of Tuesday, 227 College students had applied to the program, and 89 BlitzBuddy pairs had been assigned.
Prospective BlitzBuddy mentors fill out an application that stresses their commitment to their future BlitzBuddy, and asks about their background in volunteering with children.
Once accepted, they are given the email address of the younger student, as well as any information that the student's teacher wishes to provide.
BlitzBuddy differs from other volunteer schemes because mentors can carry out their email interactions even through travel, graduation, study-abroad, off-terms and job changes.
Tricia Shalka '05 has been writing to her BlitzBuddy for a month-and -a-half now, and thinks that her relationship with the 10-year-old New Mexico girl may continue well into the future, "if she's still interested," Shalka said.
Her BlitzBuddy, Shalka said, likes movies, cats and spending time with her family.
While the correspondence might have been slow at first, Shalka said, "I feel like we're both getting more comfortable with each other, and getting to know more about each other's lives, so there's more to talk about now."
Indeed, the BlitzBuddy scheme seems tailor-made for busy, BlitzMail-dependent Dartmouth students.
Meg Thering '05, who is also a student mentor for the DREAM after-school program, said, "BlitzBuddy doesn't require a huge time commitment, and it's really flexible."
Thering mentors an 11-year-old middle-schooler from Maryland.
