One of my students got all wound up while he was working on a writing prompt the other day. He was more opinionated than I'd ever seen him. So I said, "Hey, why don't you write a letter to the editor or write the President or something?" He looked stunned. He'd never thought of that. Right away he started talking about how it would probably never get to him, no one would read it. But someone would! Even if it just went into a count -- another one in favor of XYZ or against ZYX -- his voice would be heard.
I could see the wheels churning in his head. So (even though I could tell this was bugging the HECK out of the other teacher in the classroom) I told him if he wanted to write a letter and if he made it really good, I'd get him an envelope with the address on it and a stamp.
Write a letter to the president? Let the voice of an 8th grader from a small town in Texas be heard? There's no reason you can't!
