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Hazelwood Seniors Receive Letters They Wrote to Themselves Five Years Earlier
students. Toti, a math teacher at East Middle School, is returning letters to seniors at East
High School written by the students when they were 7th graders.
A couple of weeks before starting a new chapter in their lives, several Hazelwood East High School seniors had the opportunity to revisit middle school, by way of letters and photos.
Five years ago, East Middle School teacher Amy Toti asked her 7th grade math class to write a letter to themselves.
“I said I would give the letters back toward the end of their senior year,” Toti explained. “There were no specific requirements for the letter but I did give them suggestions of things to include like who their friends are, what teachers they had, what they thought they may want to do after they graduate from high school, etc.”
Toti, who now teaches eighth grade, has traveled to all three Hazelwood School District high schools in the last couple of weeks and the alternative high school sites to return the letters to her former students.
At Hazelwood East High School, a group of about 15 students gathered in a conference room to read their letters, laughing and reminiscing about middle school, the friends they had then and where those friends are now. Some their classmates have moved to other school districts; others have moved out of state.
Toti also brought yearbooks and a laptop with photos of the then-seventh graders. The students laughed at how they’ve changed over the years, both in looks and personality.
Kristopher Conner is a senior at East High who will attend Alabama A&M University in Huntsville in the fall. He said his plans as a 7th grader have changed somewhat, but he still has the same goal — to attend college and follow in the footsteps of Ms. Toti – to become a teacher and eventually, a principal.
“I thought at that time I would stay in Missouri, but I’m going out of state to go to school,” Conner recalled. “My original plan — where I thought I would go to school — has changed, but I’m still going to college.”
Reading the letter the 7th grade Conner wrote, he says he can see other ways he has changed. “I’m a lot more independent now,” he continued. “As a senior, there are a lot fewer people to hold your hand and stay on top of you to do things.”
Toti says for her the letter-writing project was all about building relationships. “The first year I did this, I was in my fifth year teaching and I felt comfortable enough with the teaching part of my job. I wanted to focus more on the relationships with the students,” she said. “They’re a great group of kids and I wanted to have something to re-connect with them, but the letters also give them an opportunity to think ahead.” This is the first group Toti has given the letters back to. She says the students haven’t changed too much.
“They’re a lot bigger,” says the diminutive Toti. “The personalities are still there, but many of the students remembered the project and were looking forward to getting the letters back.”
Conner says Toti’s project made a deeper connection with students, which was evident by the students’ responses.
“I’m impressed that she remembered us,” he said. “As humans everyone wants to be remembered and that’s what this project does, and we remember Ms. Toti too.”
