Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 25, 1992 TAG: 9202220154
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WENDI GIBSON NEWSFUN WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MAIL CALL AT MORNINGSIDE
Which word is spelled correctly?A: stret
B: street
C. streat
D. sreet
What is the correct way to address an envelope?
On which corner does the post office cancel a letter?
These are some of the questions pupils at Morningside Elementary School must answer if they want to be employees of the Star Postal Service, otherwise known as S.P.S.
S.P.S. is the school's very own postal delivery system. At Morningside, pupils can write to each other every school day. All they need is a correct address and stamps, which are made by students at the school and passed out for free.
Fifth-grader Lindsey Musser is the postmistress. Her job is to take over for absent postal employees and supervise the ones who are there.
Serving along with Lindsey are Tommy Williamson, a facer who makes sure all the letters are straight and facing the same direction; Rose-Anna McClintock, a canceler who stamps a red "STAMP OUT ILLITERACY" on every letter's stamped envelope; and Brian Hungate, the clerk who checks letters for correct addresses, spelling and punctuation. Brian stamps "Return to Sender" on all envelopes unsuitable for mailing.
Once letters are approved for mailing, sorter Deanna Salters places them in post office boxes by their street names and bundles each street's pile of letters together with rubber bands.
Then it's time for mail carrier Todd Moorman, who can deliver all of Morningside's S.P.S. letters in under four minutes, to walk - or run - his route.
This week, teacher Betty Wetherington, who is in charge of the makeshift post office, hopes to have a new batch of postal employees in and ready to deliver.
No, the other kids are not getting fired, it's simply time to move on. Each term for the S.P.S. employee lasts three weeks. This guarantees that lots of kids are going to be able to apply and serve as postal employees.
Wetherington credits school principal Jim McCorkindale with spotting the S.P.S. program, actually titled "Wee Deliver."
Wee Deliver was introduced by the U.S. Postal Service to promote literacy through encouraging kids to exchange letters and teaching them how mail is processed.
The program has even instilled a sense of school unity and spirit, says Wetherington.
Morningside chose to change the Wee Deliver name to S.P.S. and focus on a single theme. The school is nicknamed a "star" school and each classroom was given a street name related to the solar system. Letters traveling through Morningside's system are addressed to places such as Heavenly Light Road, Falling Star Way and Little Dipper Lane.
Each pupil has an assigned number. When pupils write letters to each other they must include the pupil's number along with his or her street name (classroom) when addressing the envelope. Finally they must send it to Morningside, Va., and put one of three zip codes on it. Each floor at Morningside has a different zip code.
All that is left to do for mail senders is to stick the school-made stamps on the envelopes and deposit the letters in the cardboard mail boxes on each floor.
It seems that the system has been a success for Morningside. Wetherington said they trade as many as 75 letters a week.
For information on the Wee Deliver program, contact your local post office.