MOUNTAIN BROOK, Ala (WIAT) — A retired teacher from Mountain Brook is lending a helping hand to students that need help reading and writing in cursive.
Katy Sexton, a retired second grade teacher, says she was surprised by the many stories she has heard from parents of children who are no longer taught to read and write in cursive at school.
“Everything is written on a computer; everything is printed,” said Sexton. “There’s no support for the cursive writing world.”
Sexton offered her free pen pal services to parents on Facebook and received a positive response. Interested parents send her details about their children, and she then mails them a letter, written in cursive.
“Their job is to write back to me, but the only stipulation is that it has to be all in cursive writing,” said Sexton. “As long as I get a letter back from them I will continue writing. If they stop, then I’ll stop.”
Sexton just sent out her first group of letters this week and is anticipating responses from each child.
“If you’re eager to do something to help some children, what could be better than just sitting in your own air-conditioned house doing this service? The only thing it’s going to cost you is 55 cents to mail a letter,” said Sexton.