WEST HARTFORD — - When Amy Mondschein dashed into Solomon Schechter Day School last Thursday, the head of the school and her son's teacher were waiting. The Enfield resident, whose son is a second-grader at the Jewish day school, was running late that day. Was she in trouble?

Far from it.

An envelope addressed to her son, Aron, 7, had been delivered to the school that morning. It was from Barack Obama, senator from Illinois and Democratic presidential candidate.

"They were all excited," Mondschein said. "The whole school was abuzz. They took a picture of [Aron]. He was like a little celebrity."

A little more than a month earlier, teacher Joyce Ben-KiKi had Aron and his classmates each send letters to a famous person as part of a language arts lesson. Ben-KiKi wrapped the exercise around well-known children's book character "Flat Stanley," so along with the letters, the children each tucked a Flat Stanley figure they had made into each envelope.

"I told them not to expect a letter back," Ben-KiKi said. "I told them these people are very busy and most likely will not write back."

The list of recipients was impressive: Yankee third basemen Alex Rodriguez; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Olympic gold medalist Mark Spitz; Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John McCain.

Obama was the only one to write back. Two other boys, Avshalom Drescher and Zachary Goldberg, both 8, also wrote to him, but Aron was the first to get a reply.

Obama's three-page letter to Aron described Flat Stanley's visit with him and his staff in Washington, D.C. It chronicled their busy day together, which included coffee with constituents, a Senate committee meeting and a trip to the gym. It also had historical facts about the U.S. Capitol, details of Obama's job and a confession from Obama.

"Sometimes I get a little nervous before talking in front of a crowd, but Flat Stanley helped me practice the speech," Obama wrote. "He made me recite it in front of him and then even gave me some advice so the speech would go smoothly. Flat Stanley is really a great coach."

Ben-KiKi said the class had all but forgotten about the letters when Aron's arrived.

"I went to my mailbox and freaked out," she said. "I am a very excitable person."

Aron's mom said she and her husband rarely talk politics at home, but Aron is very interested in the election. He constantly asks questions, she said, inquiring about such things as how she knows who to vote for.

"We have been trying to teach him that everybody has a choice in the election, and we have to respect that. It's their right to like whichever candidate they do and that's the way it is in the United States. That's why we live here," Mondschein said.

Aron appears to be taking the lesson to heart.

The other day, Mondschein said, he announced, "Mommy, when I'm 18 I get to vote."

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