Teachers print certain of the messages to show students how they have progressed. We have gifted students and behaviorally- disordered students who attend Indian Creek but are bused from different neighborhoods. Parents had informed us in past years how hard it was for these youngsters to make friends in the building. The bulletin board has been a way for the students to maintain contact with their friends in the evening and on weekends. It has helped them to feel connected to the Indian Creek school community.
Students also have the opportunity to become key pals with retirees at a local nursing home.
The supervisor, in turn, teaches the residents to write and send messages. Along with the students, each family member and Indian Creek staff member has a personal email box, and whenever a new person joins, there is an email message waiting from the system operator or the principal. We monitor new users and encourage students to send them messages. If we see from the system log that someone is having trouble connecting, we call to ask about the problem. Teaching parents to use the system was one of our major hurdles.