ANN ARBOR---Crisler Arena at the University of Michigan is about to be transformed into an airport terminal complete with excited passengers clutching passports, anxious to explore exotic lands. The scene plays out at the K-grams Kids-Fair 2002. Departure time is 9:30 a.m. Friday (March 22).

The passengers, more than 1,000 elementary school students, alongside their U-M buddies, will visit tables staffed by U-M student groups representing foreign countries. Instead of a picture, the young travelers will quickly fill their passports with facts about the language, culture and geography of each country they visit.

K-grams, short for Kids Programs, is a student-run mentoring and learning program that pairs U-M and elementary school students through a variety of projects. In addition to Kids-Fair, they include monthly pen pal letter exchanges, weekly classroom projects, BookMARK, in which U-M students read to and mentor elementary school students, and the annual Kids-Fair. K-grams is partnered with nine elementary schools in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Detroit.

"We incorporated an international theme into Kids-Fair," says Ani Shehigian, executive director of K-grams, after working with participating teachers to determine what would best match classroom studies.

"Through this theme we hope to give kids a taste of the diverse campus at the University of Michigan," says Shehigian.

As a special memento, the kids will receive a photo of their pen pal to take home.

Former U-M Business School student Rishi Moudgil founded K-grams in the summer of 1998 as a way for U-M and elementary school students to interact, and also for U-M students to get to know their peers while engaging in the community, says Shehigian. The more than 1,000 students involved in the yearlong pen pal program live in U-M residence halls, and K-grams serves as a way to increase hall pride and meet new friends, she says. "K-grams focuses so much on reaching out to everyone."

K-grams also works with Lloyd Hall Scholars to provide a service learning class, taught by Moudgil. The 20 students are pen pals, and travel to Vetal Elementary School in Detroit to meet with and mentor the students.

The K-grams Kids-Fair was selected as the 2002 Program of the Year for the Michigan Leadership Awards. "Kids-Fair provides an opportunity for college students to volunteer, but also engage in leadership, event planning, and become an integral part of the K-grams and University communities," Shehigian says.

Kids-Fair 2002 involves 120 student groups and more than 800 college students, parents, teachers, and U-M faculty and staff. Buddies at Kids-Fair 2002 need not be in the pen pal program and can sign up online. For more information call (734) 615-4726 or go to www.umich.edu/~smile