By DENISE DICK

By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Mother-daughter teachers bridged Mahoning County to bring their classes together for the first time.
Karen Stewart, an intervention specialist at Springfield Local Intermediate School, and her daughter, Kari Knight, who occupies the same position at Austintown Middle School, brought their respective pupils to Boardman Lanes on Friday to get acquainted.
The two classes have been corresponding as pen pals since the beginning of the school year.
"They've been so excited to meet each other," Knight said.
Both mother and daughter majored in special education at Youngstown State University.
Knight, who is in her eighth year of teaching, said a book served as the inspiration for the program.
"'Dear Mr. Henshaw' is about a little boy who writes back and forth with a famous author and they become pen pals," she said.
"She came up with the idea for her students and my students to become pen pals," Stewart said.
The activity also fits in with state standards in letter writing. Both groups of pupils have been anxious to meet their cross-county friends, their teachers said.
What they discuss
The two classes tell each other about themselves, their hobbies and sometimes problems they're having at school.
Samantha Acevedo, 13, an AMS sixth-grader, wrote to her Springfield pen pal Samantha Wood, 14, a seventh-grader, about problems she has with fellow pupils.
"She gave me advice," Samantha Acevedo said.
"I told her to just ignore them and not to let it bother her," Samantha Wood said.
That helped, Samantha Acevedo said.
"We also wrote about who we liked," she said, referring to boys, but added that that's a secret between Samanthas.
Because Knight's class is larger than Stewart's, some of Stewart's pupils had more than one AMS pen pal.
Samantha Wood also corresponded with Candis Kent, 12, another AMS sixth-grader.
"I told her that I have brothers and sisters and that I'm in the sixth grade," Candis said.
Both Knight and Stewart said that the pen pal program helps pupils interact with others their age who they otherwise wouldn't likely meet.
Relative advantage
Stewart said having a daughter in the same field provides the opportunity for both teachers to share frustrations and successes.
"We learn from each other," she said.
Knight said that her mother's career choice influenced her.
"She taught us using her teaching skills to parent," she said. "It comes so naturally to me because that's the way I grew up."
The new-found pals stood waiting for their turns at the pins, posing for pictures together or just talking.
"I got a strike," said Joe Woods, 13, and an AMS sixth-grader. "I just aimed for the second arrow, and I curved it."
Jeffrey Provance, 12, jumped up and down pointing to his seven-point score.
"I'm the man with the magic fingers," said Jeffrey, a sixth-grader at AMS.