Reynoldsburg third-grade teacher Heather Slisher, left, and student teacher Tess Parks in front of a bulletin board featuring a set of the third graders’ assignments to summarize their Buckeye Buddies’ beliefs about teamwork. All photos on this page, including video, and except for Ohio State Athletics photo, courtesy of Heather Slisher.
Crafting letters to student-athletes motivates third graders
Heather Slisher had a teaching challenge: How could she motivate her third-grade students at Reynoldsburg City Schools to develop their reading, writing and math skills to meet the state testing standards?
Doing subtraction with abstract concepts, even with familiar objects such as pies or animals, did not inspire. Writing multi-paragraph essays, a required skill to be mastered for the state tests, about those pies or animals did not motivate, either.
As a teacher in Indiana, Slisher had connected her students directly to college athletes for inspiration. Now that she was a teacher-mentor to the college’s student teachers, could she role model the benefits by making that happen in Ohio?
She approached several sports teams across Ohio, hoping to connect.
“Nothing panned out until just before COVID-19 when Ohio State’s Women's Ice Hockey team came to wish my students good luck on testing,” Slisher said.
After that, Slisher connected with a player who was also interested in partnering. That player encouraged Slisher to reach out to her head coach.
Coach Nadine Muzerall was all for Slisher’s idea of connecting “Buckeye Buddies” to her students.
Ice hockey players support third graders’ reading, writing skills
“The (hockey players) were great,” said Slisher. “They came to my classroom to meet the kids. On their visits, they spend time with their buddies, play hockey and may even make a craft or two.”
That launched an enduring relationship that gets kids excited about sharing writing assignments with their buddies, one semester after another, year after year.
It’s not writing about abstract, impersonal subjects. It’s about them.
“At first, I told (the coach) it would be all on us, practicing writing and just encouraging the (players),” Slisher said, “but it would make it more real for my students, because they were writing to real people.”
But Coach “Muz” wanted the players to write back.
“So now, we’ve done it for four years,” Slisher said. “We start every September, matching the kids with players.”
Michele Sanderson, program manager for the Primary Education program, has placed student teachers with Slisher for four years now. “It has been a privilege for our students to work in Heather’s classroom, an innovative environment where they can experience, in real time, the teaching strategies that we emphasize in our program,” Sanderson said
“Heather’s work exemplifies the importance of relationship building and learning through lived experiences that we underscore here at Ohio State.”
To heighten that lived experience, each year, Slisher and the third graders attend a Women’s Ice Hockey game at Ohio State.
The players try to come to the school at least once during the academic year. When that happens, many of the students in upper grades who had Buckeye Buddies connect, too.
“This year, the third, fourth and fifth graders watched the Olympics Team USA vs. Canada game together, because six out of the seven Buckeyes playing (in that game) had been Buckeye Buddies with my students,” Slisher said.
In fact, “out of the (Women’s Ice Hockey) Buckeyes (in the Olympics this year), 11 out of 12 have been Buckeye Buddies with my students,” Slisher said. Some are alumni.
Tess Parks, who is studying for her BS in Primary Education, came to the Reynoldsburg elementary school in January for her semester-long student teaching.
“When Mrs. Slisher explained the Buckeye Buddies program to me, I was immediately enthralled by the process and the benefits it had for the kids,” Parks said.
Slisher got Parks involved from her first day of student teaching. The third graders write letters to the players, and the players write back.
“I started by checking their letters, paragraph by paragraph, ensuring spelling, punctuation and the structure is correct,” Parks said. “I reviewed the content to ensure it made sense and was legible. We go over the corrections, discuss how to enhance our writing and how not to make similar mistakes in future work.”
“These ideas broaden my view on how to incorporate important fundamental learning in an exciting, fun way.”
What do the students write to their Buckeye Buddies?
The third graders follow the hockey team’s games throughout the season and send their pen pals encouraging letters to cheer them to a win.
Three of this year’s Buckeye Buddies are majoring in the college’s Sport Industry program: Mira Jungåker, Jenna Raunio and Hilda Svensson.
Jungåker, who is from Sweden, is now in her second year of writing letters to a pen pal. “It has been a fun way to connect with a younger student,” she said. “We usually write about school, sports and our hobbies. I like to encourage them to stay confident and excited about learning. Our ‘buddies’ support us so much, so that’s the least we can do for them in return.”
In addition, Slisher focuses her students’ writing on meeting state testing standards.
“One of our skill requirements is summarizing,” Slisher said. “Our big unit that we just finished is about teamwork. For it, I sent the college students a survey, asking, ‘What does teamwork mean to you and to the team?’ ‘What is an example of teamwork on and off the ice?’”
Each third grader summarized their Buckeye Buddy’s responses into three paragraphs. The 22 students made a book of statements about teamwork.
"My buddy is Hailey MacLeod,” wrote one of the third graders. “She's number 35. Hailey plays goalie. She's from Abbotsford, British Columbia. Hailey believes that teamwork means communication and understanding to ensure that everyone feels heard and supported.”
The student also wrote two more paragraphs about teamwork on and off the ice.
“This is one of my students who could not write complete sentences at the start of the year, now writing three paragraphs,” Slisher said.
“I have seen first-hand how these letters positively impact our students' writing,” Parks said. “They provide them with experience in letter-writing structure. It strengthens their voice and expression and enhances their vocabulary.”
“I wholeheartedly believe this program is one of the best strategies I have seen to make learning about writing interesting and engaging.”
How ice hockey improves math skills, classroom behavior
The partnership also inspires students to dive into the math portion of the curriculum.
“Because a favorite thing to do in third grade is subtraction,” Slisher said, “we'll take the seating capacity at the University of Minnesota’s ice rink (when the Ohio State team played Minnesota), we'll look at (Ohio State’s) rink, and we'll see which one holds more.”
“Suddenly, math is a lot more fun when we're talking about things they can relate to versus straight up numbers.”
The kids also calculate what fraction of the Ohio State team is sophomores, is from another country or plays goalie.
Being buddies also improved classroom behavior and perseverance.
“My student teacher appoints a captain and an alternate captain at every table in my classroom,” Slisher said. “They have responsibilities just like on the ice. They earn rewards for their behavior, and we tie it all back to the Buckeyes and teamwork.”
This helps if the kids are struggling, Slisher said. “I’ll say, ‘I understand that it's hard, that you don't like doing it. But what do you think your buddies are doing right now, when they can't get a shot, or they're having trouble at practice? Are they giving up?”
“No, they're not giving up. We have to persevere, keep practicing, just like the Buckeyes.”
The third graders compare the state tests that they take to the NCAA women’s ice hockey championship.
“In years past, (the Buckeyes) have always played Wisconsin,” Slisher said. “So, the kids called the state test Wisconsin, because they want to beat it, just like we want the Buckeyes to beat Wisconsin.”
Every year, the class makes shirts with the third graders’ buddy’s name and number on the back.
“We wear them when they’re taking our state tests or other (required) tests,” Slisher said, “because we're a team, and we're doing it together. We want everybody to win.”
Slisher’s innovative teaching strategy has been received with appreciation by more than her students. “I still have parents reach out, thanking me for the opportunities the students had,” she said, “and how much fun it was to be watching the Olympics, knowing so many athletes.”
