Dear Ms. Cragwall …

“I want to go to Wake Forest because I here that they are the best college …” begins Rajae’s letter to his fourth-grade teacher, Carrie Cragwall (’07). “I will study math and history in Wake Forest.”

Wake Forest Magazine asked Cragwall what has been happening in her class.

“Wake Forest literally defines the classroom culture for my students,” writes Cragwall. “I teach at Potomac Lighthouse Public Charter School in D.C., where the vast majority of students are low-income and minority. To expose our students to college early on, teachers in our charter network/school name their classrooms after their alma mater. Maybe it’s because Wake Forest is so near and dear to my heart, but my class and I get a bit carried away.

‘If I see you at my graduation I will wink at you,’ writes Rajae.

“We abide by our own honor code, have meetings on the ‘Quad’, and read books in the ZSR Library. Since D.C. is so rich with alumni, I’ve invited several to come read to the class. One such alumnus and former soccer player, Lyle Adams (’08), connected us with Coach Jay Vidovich, who in turn donated an entire class set of Wake Forest t-shirts. Today we took the first part of our high-stakes state assessment. Many students were nervous, but once they placed their Wake Forest shirts over their school uniforms, they were calm, focused, and ready. “