Pen Pals Helping Each Other

our persons of the week. In this age of e-mails and texts, children from two separate classrooms, two cities, reminding us of the power of the written word. Reporter: We will never forget those... See More

our persons of the week. In this age of e-mails and texts, children from two separate classrooms, two cities, reminding us of the power of the written word. Reporter: We will never forget those screams. As the tornado hovered over briarwood elementary school in oklahoma. That teacher, mrs. Diedzik huddled with her students in the bathroom. And her promise -- it's almost over. It's almost over! Reporter: In the hours afterward, she took us through that school, the classrooms gone, the hallways crumbled, the bathroom where her fifth graders survived. I was right here. In the weeks since, little did we know we'd be invited to another fifth grade -- at the martin luther king school, 1,500 miles away. Welcome to our school. Reporter: Because here at this school in new jersey, they'd written to other schools all over the country. And one student here had picked briarwood elementary in oklahoma. But what they didn't know was that, as the tornado hit, those frightened oklahoma students had already written back. And their unopened letters were sitting in that classroom in new jersey. So there was a package of letters on the desk of your teacher, and you hadn't opened it yet? He opened them. Dear akhilash, hi, I'm cambry. I live in oklahoma city, oklahoma, and go to briarwood elementary. We call ourselves the briarwood bears. My teacher's name is mrs. Diedzik. She's so nice. And she has two wonderful kids. Reporter: At that moment, life was normal? Yeah. Reporter: And you can tell. Suddenly that tornado, so many miles away, leaving its marks here too. There was so much joy in those letters and then the tornado hit. Right. And you think, what can we do? Reporter: So they started a drive. Raising money. And buying gifts to replace lost belongings for those students who wrote them. What's a lady bug scooper? I don't know. I saw an advertisement for that. Reporter: Did you ever think you'd be shopping in the fifth grade? Not at all. Yeah, all those boxes. Reporter: And we were there in oklahoma as the first shipment arrived. Hey, robin. Hey, david, good to see you again. Reporter: That oklahoma teacher and three of her students who lost their homes. Opening gifts for the entire class. Harry potter box set, they found this book just for you. A pillow pet, some lip gloss. While back in new jersey, one more discovery for the student who picked briarwood to begin with -- akhilash. He never knew the voice in that video. It's almost over. Reporter: -- Was the teacher from the classroom he chose. And it was mrs. Diedzik who took that video? Reporter: She was the teacher saying "it's almost over." What would you say to her now? I'd say you're very brave, very strong. Very strong. So we choose akhilash and his fifth grade class in edison, new jersey, for rea Real differences in the race for Senate.