6th Grade Class from Wallins Elementary

By Kit Cottrell

Cinco de Mayo proved to be to be an especially exciting day for a group of lucky sixth graders from Harlan County, Kentucky, who visited Berea College’s campus courtesy of Admissions and the Appalachian Center.   The children were treated to a tour of the campus, including lunch in the Mitchell Room topped off with traditional Appalachian music featuring Deborah Thompson and Ashley Long.  It seems that Hutchins Library was a big crowd- pleaser, as well as eating in food service!  The following are thank you notes the children sent upon their return to Wallins Elementary. 
______________________________________________________________________
Dear Dr. Chad Berry,

     I loved the trip to your college.  It was very cool.  I had a wonderful time on the tour of the college campus with Angie.  She did a great job. 
     We got to see the huge library.  It was cool.
     We got to go to the basketball court which was one of my favorites.
     The lunch was very tasty. 
     When we went to the arts center the singing was very nice.  The bus ride down there was worth it to come to your college. 
     I am considering coming to Berea in the future.  Your campus is very nice and the buildings are, too.
     Thank you for letting us come to Berea College.

 Sincerely,

D.M.

Deborah Thompson

     Thank you for getting us to come to the college.  Thank you for the food.  We liked the college.  It was a long way to get there.  I have never been that far before, but I liked looking at the land and the towns. 
      Thank you for taking us around the Berea College.  I would like to go to college.  I hope you can manage to come and see us some time.  I hate that I can’t come to the college right now!
     A lot of kids are thinking about Berea College, now.  It was good.  Thank you for having us up there.

M.G.

Sincerely,

B.D.

Dear Chad Berry,

     I really like what you did for us and I really liked the college.  When I grow up and it’s the end of my high school period of life, I’m going to go to Berea College.
     What I really liked the most about Berea College is the sports center because:

1. of the pool
2. the exercising room
3. the big gym

     I also liked the library, because it has all kinds of books.  And I was shocked when Angie said, “You will get a laptop within  three days of coming here in your freshman year!”
     When it was the last part of the time we were there, some people cam up and talked about their life and how much Berea has helped them.  I enjoyed that really much.
     I liked when Debbie sand us songs and played the banjo.  I also liked when Ashley Long sang as well.  I hope you know that she has an awesome voice, and that you should be lucky to have her there at Berea.
     I just wanted you to know how much I appreciated you doing this for us and I hope to see you in the future.

Sincerely,

H.W.

Dear Dr. Berry,

     I had a great time at the college.   You have a wonderful staff.  Your food is the best!  A lot of the students liked the food.
     I will really think seriously about going to college with you guys.  Dr. Turner was very funny and the two girls that sang had a lot of talent.
     I really enjoyed being at your college learning about its time being a college.  The video that was set up for us was really nice.
     The students were very polite to us.  I was very proud to say that we were the first sixth grade class in a long time.
     I thank you for setting our trip up.  It really helped me to know that there is a college like yours.  I really do think I will go to Berea College when I am older.  Thank you once again for setting up this trip.

Sincerely,

K.C.

     The tour was pretty fun and the women who gave us the tour was Angie.  Tell her thanks for us.  It was fun.  It looks like a pretty fun place.
     I think about coming to the college when I get to high school because the thing I liked about the tour was when we looked at the basketball court and it was pretty fun.  It shines like a new gym and it has got a lot of championship stuff.  It was a pretty fun place.
     I liked the tour and the food.  The food was good and the place was nice and neat.  I liked a place where you go in and sit down at a nice table with no food crumbles or nothing and have a good time with people who go to college and introduce yourself.

M.B.

     What I liked about the trip to Berea College was that within the first three days that you start at the college, you get a free laptop. 
     Another thing that I liked about the trip was all the different sports the sports in the sports center.
     I also liked learning about the different courses that you could take. 
    One of my favorite parts of the trip was when we went to the cafeteria.  There was pizza, fries, salads, and the drinks. 
     Another one of my favorite parts of the trip was learning about how the library had over 350,000 books that would keep someone reading for years. 
     I have decided that I would like to go to Berea College when I get out of high school.  I know that in order to get into Berea, I will have to work hard during the rest of my school years. 
     What I liked most about the trip was that we were the only sixth grade class to get a tour of the college in years!

J.H.

     Oh, my goodness!  Berea College was great!  I loved it!  My favorite part was the swimming pool.  I always wanted to be on a swimming team.  Not only that but I really want to be a veterinarian and I think Berea College can  really help me reach this goal.
      Thank you so much for setting this up for us because if you didn’t I don’t think I would have considered Berea as a College to go to.
     The food was great.  I loved the lunch at our school.  There were choices of any kind of drink you wanted.  It was really great. 
     Again, thank you so, so, so, so much.  I loved every minute of Berea.
     When I got home, I told my parents everything about Berea College, too.  I loved it so much that when it was time to leave, I didn’t’ want to leave!
     Thank you so much again for the experience you gave me and my classmates.

Sincerely,

M.E.S.
    

     Thank you for allowing us to have the chance to explore campus and experience a great day. 
      The part I really liked about Berea was the awesome cafeteria, which had tasty (not to mention free) food, which we appreciate greatly.
     Another thing I want to thank you for was the opportunity to hear Debra Thompson and Ashley Long play folk instruments we were familiar with.  They also sang songs about Harlan County.
     I will surely consider Berea College in the future.
     Wallins Elementary really appreciates all of your hard work!

M.M.

     I really did have a fun time at the college.  It was the best college I have ever been to! 
     I loved the big swimming pool.  It is awesome!  I hope me and my class will get to come back and maybe go swimming.
     My cousin and I are wanting to go to Berea College. 
     Also, another thing I loved was the food.  It was very yummy.  The cafeteria is like the Ryan’s Steak House!  It is humongous.
     We really loved coming there. And we appreciate you taking your time to schedule the dates and getting things ready.
     Also, I was looking for my cousin.  He works there.  His name is Jamie Boggs.  When you get this letter, if you know him, tell him I said hi.
     I hope we will get to come back.
     By!

K.A.

     We thank you for letting us come to Berea College for a great day.  We really had so much fun learning about the college grounds.
     The most exciting thing was when we went into the basketball gym.  It was huge and I’m thinking about going to college there one day because it is so fun.
     The people there are so nice!  They actually like helped us get an impression of the life it would be there.
     It would take an hour to really thank you for letting us come.  I really would love to get to come there when I get out of high school.  I would be so glad to come there.
     Again, thank you for letting me come and visit Berea College for the day.

Sincerely,

B.W.

Dear Chad,
     I just wanted to write you a letter to tell you that we had a GREAT time at Berea College.  I had a blast.
     The trip made me realize that college can be fun.  Thanks for letting us come to your college.
     My favorite part of the trip was going around campus learning about all the cool places we saw.  I had a lot of fun and I really want to go to Berea College again.  I loved Berea.
     You guys must work really hard to keep that place going.
     I told my dad about all the great things we did at Berea.  He said he hopes I go to Berea when I grow up.
     I love to cheer and I am going to try to cheer there if I get to go to Berea College.
     I loved to hear Debra Thompson and Ashley Long sing.  They were Amazing!
     Thank you for letting us come to the great Berea College.

L.B.

P.S. – Your staff members were really nice!

S.M.

     I would like to thank you for inviting me, my class, and our teachers to your college.  Before we came, I knew that I wanted to be an R.N. but I did not know where my education was going to come from until I went on this trip.  Now I am going to start right now and work my hardest to try to get to go to your college.  I can’t wait to go back.  Now, at least I know where I might go to college.
     So, thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

Sincerely,

A.H.

P.S. – The food is great!

     The trip was awesome.  I like the college because it has everything I like – basketball, music, and I love the lunch room.
     The college is awesome.  I like the roof made of milk jugs.  What was awesome.
     One day I hope I can go to Berea College as a student.  The library is huge.  That’s like 10X as many books as there are in our library.  AND I like the thing about the free laptop if you become a student.
     I like the way you all fought the law that separates whites from blacks.
     I heard about your all’s bamboo and I heard about your forest.  I think that would be awesome to see.  I heard that you use bamboo to make a lot of your buildings because bamboo grows faster than trees. 
     Well, thank you for the tour.  It was cool.  I really like the farm land idea.  I also heard that you eat what you grow.  That’s awesome!

P.H.B.

     I’m sorry I didn’t come.  But I wasn’t allowed because me and my parents had to go somewhere when I got home form school at 4:00.  So I had to set here at school all day long and read until the book was all the way re ad.  The book had 13 chapters and each chapter was 22 pages.  I read so much yesterday that my throat was sore.  I heard that it was the best field trip ever.  I wished I had come because it seemed like a great field trip.

D.K.

    Thank you Chad Berry for paying for all the stuff.  I had a fun time, also.
     When I’m going to college, I’m going to consider going to Berea.  The school seems like a nice place.  The people that we passed also seemed nice. 
      The food was good!
     Thank you for arranging this trip for us 6th graders. 
     Thank you for paying for the bus and all that other stuff.
     I’m interested in going to Berea.  I really like the school.  I hope that someday y’all can come here for a visit!  I had a very nice day down at Berea.  Maybe we can come and visit you down there again.
     Thank you again for letting us come to Berea College and look around the college.  I feel special for being the first 6th graders on campus!

C.B.

Dear Chad,

     I want to thank you for letting us go to Berea College.  I had a great time.  It was so wonderful there.
     I want you to thank the tour guide we had (Angie).  Zack Francis goes to your college.  Tell him I said hi.
     I want to thank you for making all the arrangements.
     My favorite part was the cafeteria.  I will go to Berea College
    

Dear Chad,
     Thank you so much for bringing us up to Berea.  It was so fun!
     Your library is huge.  The food is great – a whole lot better than ours.
     I am considering Berea.  It seems like a really nice school.
     I liked the way that all of the buildings are designed.  It’s really cool how you all try to use natural resources to run your buildings.  For instance, the big circle of bricks that catch rain water to run the toilet.
     I like the way your college is set up, like if you can’t pay for the tuition the college will pay for you.  I am really thinking about coming to Berea.
     Thank you for paying for our trip.  I hope to see you soon!

Sincerely,

N.C.

     Thank you for making all the arrangements for us to go to your college.  I told my family all the stuff I learned about your college, although my brother, Thomas, didn’t care much for it.  He did like the fact that you all buy students laptops.
      My favorite part of the tour was when I saw and ate at the cafeteria building. 
     It was fun to hear about all the things to do such as mythology.
     If we come back up there, we should spend more time up there.  Next time, we should stay at the food court longer!

Sincerely,

R.C.

     Yesterday was fun.  I hadn’t really planned on going to college, but now I just might try to go.
     I enjoyed the walking, food, and the singing.  I’m also glad I didn’t have to sit here at boring school all day yesterday (while everyone else was there having a good time). 
     I even enjoyed the bus ride with my friends!
     Everybody was friendly.  The college wwas big and  not to mention, everything was clean and neatly organized.  I don’t mean just the college either.  The whole community there was neat and clean.
     We had a wonderful time, so thank you.  We enjoyed the trip and wish to go back some time.
Sincerely,

Dear Chad Berry,
    
     Thank you for the tour of the college.  It was the funnest trip I’ve ever been on.  I’m thinking about going to college.  If I do, it will be Berea College that I will go to.  It is a very nice college.  I think the college is very neat in the way some of the buildings are built.  I like the one with the milk jugs as a roof.  It was fun learning about the place.
     It is a small college, but it is good for it to be small.  It is a good thing because all of your professors will know your name.  There are also small classes.
     My favorite part of the tour was that they had an indoor pool.
     Thank you again for the tour.  It has encouraged me to go to college.

Thanks!

M.S.

Sincerely,

Your Friend,
T.F.

Hey!  I would like to thank you for letting us come down to Berea for a visit.  I want to go to college, but before I went to Berea I wanted to go to the University of Tennessee and play basketball.  But since I went down to Berea, I am going to consider it when I get in higher grades.
     Berea has basketball, not very big, but it’s still basketball for a college.
     It was very fun to get to go to Berea.  If I get out of high school and get a scholarship to UT, then I’m going to take it because UT is my dream school.  But before I went to Berea, I didn’t even think about it.  Now, I will consider it if I don’t get a scholarship to UT.  If I got a scholarship to UK or something, I might take it.  I would rather go to Berea than UK because I don’t like UK. 
     I would like to thank you for the food and letting us come up to Berea.

D.H.

     Thank you for bringing us down to Berea College because it was one of the best tours I have ever had.  I really enjoyed it because we got out of school and I think I would like to go there when I get older.
     My mom and I have talked about what college I want to go to and I know that I’m going to college because mom and I talk about it all the time.
     I really enjoyed the food, the tour, and the students we worked with.  It was really fun and both of our classes liked doing ti.
     Thanks for everything and we hope we do this a gain some time.  I hope we can stay in touch over the summer.
     Thank you!

Sincerely,

G.B.

     Thank you, Chad, for paying for our bus and all of our lunch.
     The best thing, which was the tour, was that we saw all kinds of things and buildings like the library.  It was huge and had lots of books.
     We also learned on our tour that Berea College is the #1 college in Southeastern Kentucky.
     The best part of the tour was getting to see all the trophies and your gym, which was also huge and really cool.  We got to see your indoor pool, which was pretty cool, also.
     The food there was great.
     I also want to say thanks for arranging the music.
     The whole thing was neat!

S.P.

     Hey, I just want4ed to write you and say thank you for allowing us sixth graders to come and visit Berea college.  At first when I found out that we were coming, I thought that it was going to be a boring trip.
      And when we first watched that movie, I found out that you wanted us to come, I said to myself, “Yeah, right!  I’m not coming here.  This is just a little college and I’m not coming.”
     But I liked it.  It was fun.
     At lunch time, when I was talking to Anna, she said I think out of the 17 different sports they had, they did not have football.  They just have flag football.  When she said that, I said to myself, “Kentucky or Eastern, here I come!”
     But I’m really glad I went on the trip.  I can’t stand places where there are too many people.  So that thought hit me about Eastern and UK.
     I thought it was a privilege to get to come.

Your future student,

T.S.

Dear Chad Berry,
     I just want to thank you for letting us all come to the Berea College.  It was awesome! 
     I loved the library because it was huge and I have never seen a library that big before.  I’m not the biggest reader in the world, but I do like to read. 
     I also liked the gym because it was very nice and I would love to be someone playing basketball on it one day.  Something that I really loved was the swimming pool because swimming is a really big thing to me.
     The tour was very amazing because I learned a lot of information about Berea College from it.  I learned you get free tuition and you can work it off and that everybody gets their own laptop for free – which is a very big thing to me.  I’ve seen some very amazing places at Berea College because of this tour and I would love to come there again. 
     I have put Berea College at the top of y list of colleges that I would like to go to when I grow up.  I have considered this college because of how cool and convincing it is.   
     Hopefully one day I’ll see you again and you’ll see me and I won’t just be visiting.  I’ll be there to learn.
     I just wanted to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule just to read my letter,

Sincerely,

S.P.

Your friend,

S.S