The program was originally started with the help of the U.S. Postal Service (Wee Deliver) to introduce career skills and increase writing skills at the elementary level.

LASALLE,CO — The Valley Re-1 School District is focused on technology but students at Pete Mirich Elementary continue to do one thing the old fashioned way: letter writing.

There are no emails or text messages being circulated between friends and teachers here. Instead, 10 kindergartners through fifth-graders are being paid in brownies and donuts to collect, sort, stamp and circulate inter-school mail for “Wee Deliver.”

“The idea was hatched 13 years ago by the LaSalle post office and teacher Denise Blevins as a way to keep kids involved with their classmates and teachers and to get them interested in a career in the postal service, said program sponsor Shelly Hoff.

“It’s a great opportunity for our teachers to help kids increase their writing skills by teaching them how to write a letter,” Hoff said. “They write letters kids to kids, teachers to teachers, kids to teachers and teachers to kids. Everyone gets so excited when they get a letter.”

“They have to fill out an application with their name, grade and age and tell me why they want to work here,” Hoff said. “And they have to give me a letter of reference from their teacher telling me why they are trustworthy.”

Once hired, students show up about 30-45 minutes early for school every Thursday morning throughout the school year. There is a truck driver (who picks up the mail from the main office), a facer (who organizes the mail so the addresses are in the same direction), a canceler (who stamps the mail), sorters (who sort the mail by classrooms) and mail carriers (who deliver the mail to the classrooms).

“We try to keep it as close to real post offices as we can,” Hoff said.

LaSalle school teaches old school communications through student-run post office