“Did you ride kangaroos to school?”

“Have you ever been attacked by a shark?”

“Are there credit cards where you come from?”

Those were just a few of the questions posed to Luke Pittle by fourth grade students at Osgood Elementary on Tuesday.

Pittle, a native of Brisbane, Australia, moved to Nebraska in August of 2013 to play basketball for the North Platte Community College Knights men’s basketball team. Pittle is currently studying electrical engineering at NPCC and has plans to graduate in May.

He is also president of the college’s International Student Organization, which has started a pen pal program incorporating students at Osgood and Lake Maloney elementary schools.

“We thought it would be a fun twist on traditional pen pal programs,” said Heather Pucket, area advising coordinator. “Instead of just corresponding with someone overseas, elementary students get to actually meet the person they are writing to.”

Students from ISO, which also has representatives from Italy, Germany, Vietnam, Canada, Bulgaria and England among other places, started the process by introducing themselves through letters to fourth and fifth grades students.

The elementary kids wrote back with questions, which the NPCC students answered – again in letter form.

“Right now, we are wrapping things up with visits to the Lake and Osgood classrooms,” said Pucket. “So far, both groups of students have been really excited about this venture.”

She said the primary benefits to the college are twofold.

“This program allows the college to be involved in the community,” Pucket said. “It’s also an amazing opportunity for North Platte to tap into and learn from the diversity we have at NPCC.”

Elementary school officials appreciate the partnership as well.

“I think it’s good for the kids to meet people from other countries and realize those people aren’t so different from them,” said Jenny Nekuda, fourth grade teacher at Osgood. “The pen pal program is also a good way for the kids to sharpen their social skills.”

On Tuesday, Pittle fielded questions about everything from his accent to his favorite animal, it’s a dingo, and his favorite food – a pineapple.

“I liked his accent,” said RJ Stefka, 9. “Canadian is my first favorite accent, and Australian is my second favorite.”

Kadan Wright, 9, said he enjoyed learning about Australia overall, and Rydon Lampe, 9, thought it was “pretty cool” that Pittle likes sports.

“I’ve seen people from Australia before,” said Jordan Buoy, 10. “But, it was fun to meet one face-to-face.”