Signed, Sealed, Delivered: 3’s Follow a Letter’s Path

Morah Alicia (Katznelson) Broth ’90 and her 3’s class (AKA the Barvazim) are pen-pals with fellow vintage BT alumna Rhonda (Schnitzer) Rubin ’90 who lives in Seattle, Washington. Their exchanges, built upon a mutual love of ducks, has generated some incredible learning experiences…

Receiving their first letter from Rhonda inspired discussions about geography and the mail delivery process. Since none of the Barvazim remembered seeing a mail carrier in their classroom, they wondered – how did Rhonda’s letter reach them?

 

When they realized that their classroom does not have a mailbox like Morah Cindy’s, Morah Alicia showed them her mailbox in the PreSchool office. Morah Phaygi and Morah Ellen, who sort all the PreSchool mail, reported that the mail carrier does not visit them, either. “We knew we had some investigating to do to solve this mystery,” says Morah Alicia.

The group trekked up to Beth Tfiloh’s administrative entrance, where Ms. Angela, the front desk guard, offered more information. “She told us that our mail carriers, Ms. Deidra or Ms. Mary, drive up in their mail trucks and bring LOTS of mail inside to the shul office,” Alicia says.

Over in the shul office, Mrs. Kaufman helped the detectives mail their large envelope of letters back to Rhonda, “even letting us use the huge postage machine!” Finally, Ms. Lillian, who sorts all the shul mail, explained that Mr. Ed delivers the heavy bins full of sorted mail to their destinations throughout the building.

Ms. Angela, remembering their quest, asked the 3’s if they would like the mail carrier to visit them. The answer was a resounding “yes!” “Ms. Mary was only too happy to come down and spend some time with us,” says Morah Alicia.

"As a huge side-benefit of this adventure, the Barvazim had the opportunity to thank every single person involved in the process of bringing us our mail," says Morah Alicia. “They saw first-hand how many people it takes to make good things happen and how much teamwork is involved. What a great lesson in community and gratitude!”