Nearly 50 Grade 6 students at Queen Mary Community Elementary recently sent off a flurry of postcards to their peers at Ariyoshi Elementary, a school in Chiba, Japan – which is also happens to be the City of North Vancouver’s sister city.
The project got underway after officials in Chiba reached out to the mayor’s office asking to do a postcard exchange with a local elementary school.
“This past year and a half we’ve all had to find new ways to connect with our friends, family and community,” stated Mayor Linda Buchanan, who connected with the North Vancouver School District in the hopes of finding a local elementary school who would be interested in sending some good vibrations to pupils in Japan. “I was happy to help co-ordinate. Through this experience, I hope children in the city and Chiba understand that even though they are on the other side of the globe, they are connected. I want everyone to feel valued and optimistic about the future coming out of this pandemic.”
The postcards Queen Mary students made included individualized messages, including details about the city, their school and life on the North Shore.
Almost 80 postcards were presented to the mayor on May 20, who will send them off on behalf of the students.
Postcards from students at Ariyoshi Elementary are expected to arrive into the hands of their peers in North Vancouver in September.
