{"id":12706,"date":"2014-06-03T13:17:16","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T19:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/?p=12706"},"modified":"2014-06-03T13:17:16","modified_gmt":"2014-06-03T19:17:16","slug":"hazelwood-seniors-receive-letters-they-wrote-to-themselves-five-years-earlier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=12706","title":{"rendered":"Hazelwood Seniors Receive Letters They Wrote to Themselves Five Years Earlier"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12707\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12707\" style=\"width: 470px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Toti_letters_project2.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-12707\" alt=\"Toti (with papers in her hand) reads over a letter written by one of her former  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.   \" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Toti_letters_project2-470x291.jpg?resize=470%2C291\" width=\"470\" height=\"291\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12707\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amy Toti (with papers in her hand) reads over a letter written by one of her former<br \/>students. Toti, a math teacher at East Middle School, is returning letters to seniors at East<br \/>High School written by the students when they were 7th graders.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Five years ago, East Middle School teacher Amy Toti asked her 7th grade math class to write a letter to themselves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said I would give the letters back toward the end of their senior year,\u201d Toti explained. \u201cThere 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Toti also brought yearbooks and a laptop with photos of the then-seventh graders. The students laughed at how they\u2019ve changed over the years, both in looks and personality.<\/p>\n<p>Kristopher Conner is a senior at East High who will attend Alabama A&amp;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 \u2014 to attend college and follow in the footsteps of Ms. Toti &#8211; to become a teacher and eventually, a principal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought at that time I would stay in Missouri, but I\u2019m going out of state to go to school,\u201d Conner recalled. \u201cMy original plan \u2014 where I thought I would go to school \u2014 has changed, but I\u2019m still going to college.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reading the letter the 7th grade Conner wrote, he says he can see other ways he has changed.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m a lot more independent now,\u201d he continued. \u201cAs a senior, there are a lot fewer people to hold your hand and stay on top of you to do things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Toti says for her the letter-writing project was all about building relationships.\u00a0 \u201cThe 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,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re 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.\u201d This is the first group Toti has given the letters back to. She says the students haven\u2019t changed too much.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re a lot bigger,\u201d says the diminutive Toti. \u201cThe personalities are still there, but many of the students remembered the project and were looking forward to getting the letters back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Conner says Toti\u2019s project made a deeper connection with students, which was evident by the students\u2019 responses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m impressed that she remembered us,\u201d he said. \u201cAs humans everyone wants to be remembered and that\u2019s what this project does, and we remember Ms. Toti too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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. \u201cI said I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-school-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hazelwood Seniors Receive Letters They Wrote to Themselves Five Years Earlier - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=12706\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hazelwood Seniors Receive Letters They Wrote to Themselves Five Years Earlier - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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. 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