Writing letters to your favorite local restaurants can be exciting and the anticipation of getting a response back can be great, especially as a fifth grader. Unfortunately, not every restaurant will write a letter back, in fact many may just copy and paste a generic response with no sentimental value, even when a teacher sends a special note stating it would mean a lot for the kids to get a response back. Based on this article from PMQ, this in fact happened to this group of fifth graders, until one special letter received an overwhelming response. For this group of fifth graders, not only did they get a response back, but they also received some tasty pizza. It was all thanks to one fifth grader, Asya Anderson who stated “I have been going there as long as I can remember.” The response that Asya received made writing his letter to Leucadia Pizzeria worthwhile. Not only did Chip Conover, the owner of the pizzeria suggest throwing a pizza party for the kids, but he followed up on that gift due to not getting a response back the first time.
Everyone, including the teacher, Natalie Christ, was shocked at the tremendous gift this pizzeria gave to the kids. Not only has she taught for 17 years and implemented the same assignment, but she has never in those 17 years received such a generous offer to her kids from a restaurant owner. Based on the Coast News Group, this letter-writing assignment “was aimed at helping the students meet a fifth-grade standard of opinion writing [while] empowering students to find their voice and feel confident in sharing that opinion with others.” The pizza party was held for the entire class of La Costa Heights Elementary School on the patio deck of Leucadia Pizzeria along with 10 parents after state testing which included a menu that kids could not resist; it was a feast of pizza, pasta, and cookies. Asya’s last comment was “I was happy I got to share it with my classmates.”
Not only did the pizzeria owner Chip Conover treat the kids with some awesome food, but he gave back to the kids a level of confidence that their voices also Matter.