“It is the year 2024, and my time machine is done. It is time to travel to 2909, where I will expand our human society to space.”

That’s the opener to “Aidan and the Time-Traveling Scientist,” the first of nine short stories turned into an podcast by Rindge Memorial School students, using stories they wrote with mentorship by Franklin Pierce students in a collaborative project to boost literacy.

Franklin Pierce students served as interns, working with interested elementary school students in an after school writing club, called the Writing Nest– a nod to Rindge Memorial School’s and Franklin Pierce’s avian mascots, the Eagles and the Ravens. RMS students then got to visit the FPU campus, and the Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications, where they used the university’s podcast studio to record their works.

Last week, the complete collection of stories was uploaded for listening or download to thewritingnest.podbean.com.

“It’s fantastic to see their creativity and their enthusiasm for writing and having their work highlighted,” said Joan Swanson, director of the education department at Franklin Pierce University, who helped coordinate the program.

RMS fourth-grade teacher Susan Crotto helped oversee the club, said she saw the relationships between the college students and children grow over the weeks. At the end of the program, she said, one of her students wrote a thank you letter to her mentor, and asked Crotto to help get it to her.

“Whatever the kids wrote, nobody judged them. They just sat, and listened, and helped, and they did such a good job. I was very impressed with the students, and I know they were nervous at first,” Crotto said.

Crotto said four of the Writing Nest members are in her class, and after the release of the recordings of the stories, she took the time to have her class listen to the stories. Sharing writing is something they already do in her class, she said.

“They listened to every one, and loved every one,” Crotto said.

Swanson said there are already discussions happening to bring the program back next year.

“This is a great example of what can happen if our communities work together,” Swanson said. “I’m pretty sure that all parties were interested in seeing it happen again.”

Crotto agreed, noting that some of the fourth-grade participants have already shown interest in taking part in the program again, if the schools host it.

“All the kids that were in it were kids that would write all the time if they had a chance to,” Crotto said.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.