Separated by almost 7 miles, students of Towamensing and S.S. Palmer elementary schools don't traditionally meet until seventh grade.

This year, however, third-grade students at both schools wrote to each other as pen pals and, on Wednesday, greeted each other face-to-face for the first time.Teachers said the exercise is meant to sharpen social writing skills in an age where most communication is done in an abbreviated text message."We don't really write as a social medium anymore and so we thought it would be a good idea to have the students introduce themselves throughout the year in letters and then meet here for a day of educational activities," Roberta Yeager, S.S. Palmer third-grade teacher said. "When they finally do get together it can be awkward to start up a conversation, but the students haven't been nervous. They are having a great time."Activities throughout the day were centered on the Science Technology Engineering and Math, or STEM, education initiative.One group of students battled to build the highest tower out of toothpicks, marshmallows and gummies, while others built paper airplanes hoping to send theirs the greatest distance down the hall.S.S. Palmer teacher Chris Kimmel worked with students to get the longest flight out of their plane."The students who sent their planes the furthest used the whole note card and put the greatest amount of weight in the front," Kimmel told the class. "When you look up how to build a perfect paper airplane, you want the most weight where you release it."Meeting his pen pal was a highlight of the morning for Towamensing third-grade student Dillon Borger."We wrote to each other and introduced ourself by describing our favorite food or television show," Borger said. "It's just like a friendly letter and sometimes it was short, while other times it was long. In the end, it was worth it. It was fun meeting my pen pals. They each have their own personalities. They are very nice and considerate."Yeager's class followed up tower building by making super balls with rubber bands."We hope that throughout the year and today they make lasting friendships," Yeager said, "that will carry over to junior high so when they are all in the same building they already know a lot about each other."