We’re sharing real STEM professional letters to pre-scientists annotated by LPS teachers and staff to provide STEM pen pals with inspiration and ideas for their own letters. Our LPS teachers and staff pick letters that stand out to them and tell us why. We hope this series serves as a resource for pen pals to make letters accessible and engaging for pre-scientists.
This letter was written by STEM pen pal Julie Bernstorf to am 8th grade pre-scientist for round #1. The theme this round was: STEM Career Pathways.
The letter was annotated and reviewed by LPS teacher Sarah Malec, and here’s what they had to say:
This letter is great because it really engaged and connected with the pre-scientist. The language is kid-friendly and written with good advice students could apply to any challenge. Julie also asked her prescientist a lot of questions which is very helpful. The inclusion of the STEM Professional’s timeline is such a great and visual way for the pre-scientist to make authentic connections. One thing that could make this letter even better is to make sure that words that are commonly used in STEM but not outside of STEM, such as going out to the field, are explained to the pre-scientist. They might think of the field as an open grassy area and not going out to work in the environment or area of STEM that the professional studies.
Check out the letter below with the teacher’s annotations that are highlighted with matching text throughout the letter. Thanks to Julie Bernstorf for not only being a great pen pal, but also allowing us to annotate and publish their letter so others can benefit!
