All year long, elementary students have exchanged letters monthly with their U of M student pen pals. (See - Smiles All Around.) Some have met their pen pals through projects in the classroom or social events at school. But for most, the contact has been limited to letters - letters that have fostered relationships that mean a lot to the kids, and make them yearn to meet their pals.

Enter the Kids-Fair, the spring culmination of the K-gram program. Amid a festive atmosphere of music and activity booths, kids and pals finally meet. How satisfying is it? Just ask Connie, a 5th grader at Northside. "[Meeting my pen pal] was the most fun thing that ever happened to me. The suspense was UNBELIEVEABLE! And when I saw her I was bursting!"

The first Kids-Fair was held last year, and to the kids and their teachers, the fun was large and the glitches small. (For example, no bags for all the goodies. And then there were the live goldfish one booth was handing out…)

For the thirty K-grams U of M student volunteer fair organizers, however, it was a behind-the-scenes lesson in thinking on your feet: Forty-eight hours before the fair, they learned thier venue had been changed, from Palmer field to Oosterbaan Field house. To make matters worse, a sports team would be using the field house until only 45 minutes before hundreds of school kids would flood the building. Then, even as the sponsoring student organizations were hastily setting up their booths, the organizers learned that no food was permitted in the building; booths featuring food were hastily relocated outside. The final hurdle: the signal for groups to move to a new area of the fair was the sounding of "The Victors" over the PA, and half-way through the fair, the power went out leaving no sound system through which to give the signal.

Lead by their highly energetic, quick-thinking founder, Rishi Moudgil, the kids met all these challenges. Then they spent "hours and hours" interviewing principals, teachers, and transportation officials, students, getting feedback that provided fodder for the lengthy brainstorming sessions that were used to plan this year's Kids-Fair.

The organizational learning was readily apparent to anyone who attended both events. While last year's fair was excellent, this year's was spectacular. Held in Crisler Arena, the fair featured booths and events from over 100 U of M student organizations, from Greek houses to clubs to sports teams. Kids and their pals were treated to opening ceremonies with music and "pen pal talking time," followed by plenty of time in which to roam and share the many activities, which ranged from the athletic (fencing, football, basketball, rugby and more) to the academic (science, medicine) to the cultural (music, traditions from other countries), to the just plain fun (treat-making, all kinds of arts and crafts, face painting, etc.).

A little disappointment can't be avoided, unfortunately as not every pen pal is able to attend the fair. But the fair organizers had thought of that, too, providing volunteer "Fair Buddies" to stand in for missing pals, so no kids was without a college-age-escort.

And this time, there were bags for the goodies and crafts. And the live goldfish had quietly disappeared. And a smashingly good time was had by all.