Guilderland High School senior Nathan Mazzone spent the past nine months connecting elementary school students and nursing home residents through a pen pal program inspired by his own childhood experience.
Mazzone launched the initiative last June after emailing his former second grade teacher, Lynn-Marie Cipriano, at Pine Bush Elementary School. Drawing on his volunteer work at Kingsway Community, he proposed creating a letter exchange between Cipriano’s class and residents.
“I was thrilled to hear from Nathan,” Cipriano said. “He has come so far since he was in my second grade class. I couldn’t wait to work on this project with him.”
Mazzone said the idea stemmed from writing letters to his great-grandmother when she lived at Kingsway.
“I remember how excited I used to get when I saw the letters that she had written back to me,” he said. “When I joined National Honor Society and needed to complete a service project, I knew I wanted to create something like that for others.”
Beginning in September, Mazzone visited Cipriano’s third grade classroom each month to help students write letters, which he delivered between the school and Kingsway during his weekly volunteer visits.
“My students absolutely love Nathan,” Cipriano said. “He is an incredible role model for them. They are excited to hear about his college plans at UMass Amherst.”
Throughout the year, students also created holiday gifts for their pen pals, including hand-painted wooden boxes delivered during a December visit to Kingsway.
The program concluded in late May when students visited Kingsway to meet their pen pals in person.
“This was truly one of the most gratifying experiences in 29 years of teaching,” Cipriano said.
Residents also embraced the program.
“Throughout the school year, they have enjoyed building meaningful connections with the children through their ongoing letter exchanges,” said Sheryl Manning of Kingsway Community. Residents shared stories from their lives while learning about students’ interests and experiences, offering encouragement and life lessons.
Students said the experience made a lasting impact.
“My pen pal was Mary. We had so much in common together,” said Atharv Dixit. “It meant a lot to both of us. We used our hearts to say things like we are friends.”
“I think it was one of the best experiences of my life,” said Emily Wickert. “Not only did we build relationships with our pen pals, we also got a lot closer to Nathan Mazzone, who started pen pals.”
Others emphasized the program’s focus on kindness and connection.
“We made a difference. We made people happy,” said Jack Butler. “We did something good and got nothing in return.”
Mazzone said the experience has been difficult to put into words.
“I have loved seeing the joy that this project has brought to the kids and the residents,” he said. “I’m very glad I was able to brighten the days of many residents and children.”
The program created lasting connections across generations, leaving a meaningful impact on students and residents alike.
