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The Power of Persuasion

Island Avenue Elementary School 3rd grader Jay Bermeo just received a important lesson on the power of the written word. After writing a persuasive letter to Madison Superintendent of Schools Tom Scarice asking for frozen yogurt to be brought to the elementary schools, Scarice organized a free frozen yogurt event at each elementary school the week of April 17.

Augmentative and persuasive writing is a part of the 3rd grade curriculum across the district. Students are asked to send letters to real people—local leaders, teachers, or even politicians.

“The real story is that we have worked so hard to make our curriculum come alive so that we would have authentic audiences for kids with their writing and any kind of way to apply their learning in real-world situations,” said Scarice.

Bermeo clearly took the lesson to heart. In his letter to Scarice, he outlined a plan for financing and maintaining a frozen yogurt machine as well as analyzed the heath benefits of frozen yogurt compared to ice cream, breaking down the reduced number of calories and grams of fat per serving.

His strongest argument may have been the blunt question with which he ended his letter to Scarice: “Don’t you want your children to be happy?”

At Island Avenue Elementary on April 18, Bermeo was a big hit, with fellow students chanting his name as they collected their free treat. Bermeo said he was excited to see his letter make a difference.

“It just didn’t seem fair that the other grades at the other schools got to have it, so that is why I wrote about it,” he said. “I thought ice cream was too unhealthy and frozen yogurt you can just get a little cup.”

Despite his initial request for frozen yogurt machines to be installed in the schools, after listening to Scarice explain that installing machines would be a challenge, Bermeo said he is OK with just having a one-day event.

Scarice said he meets with every student who writes to him and said he wanted to do as much as he could to accommodate Bermeo’s request.

“I wanted to make sure I reinforced the power of writing and that you can make a difference in the world with your voice,” said Scarice. “We want kids to find their voice through writing. Now Jay and other kids can see that I can make a difference because of my voice and that is a central focus in our curriculum.”