Brooks Crossing Sends Smiles Across the Country for Valentine's Day

The yearly tradition of students filling bags to the brim with cards received from other students is always a sure sign of the celebration of Valentine's Day.  But students at Brooks Crossing Elementary School worked yesterday to spread the love to much further destinations than their own classrooms.

The students were hard at work on Valentine's Day cutting, pasting, drawing and coloring in each classroom, making cards to be given to the Color a Smile organization.  Color a Smile is a non-profit group that distributes drawings  to nursing homes, Meals on Wheels programs and individuals across the country.

"Kindness and caring are two of the core values we instill in this district so this project is about spreading love beyond our own walls," said Principal Jodi Mahoney.  "These cards go to people who need a smile, like seniors or sick kids in hospitals.  Some people don't get the same kindness and caring as our students so it's nice to remind them there are people out there who need help."

The district's character education program offered an ideal route to help the students understand the importance of giving their time and helping provide a happy thought for people who could use it.

"These cards have positive messages and they're bright and colorful to make someone smile," said fifth-grade teacher Laura Cervino.  "Valentine's Day is about showing people that you care for them, so this ties in with our character education program.  The students learn they can take a couple minutes each day to help make somebody else's day better."

Brooks Crossing's Student Congress helped to pick out the activity and organization to donate their time to, with some members acting as mentors to younger students as they helped make cards.

"The idea behind the Student Congress is to help everybody out in the whole universe," said fifth-grader Rohan Sabharwal.  "Today we're putting together phrases and drawings for people who are lonely, people who need help and who don't have families."

Fifth-grader Sanya Ailani worked making a card that said "Bee Happy," with a picture of bumblebees and flowers.

"I hope my card helps someone feel less lonely and sad and makes them happier," she said.  "All of these cards are supposed to make them feel better so I hope they do."

Ultimately, the school's staff said the project helps to offer the students perspective.  As they celebrate with various Valentine's Day activities, while giving and receiving cards to and from classmates, there are still people who aren't as fortunate as they are.  But the students said they hope these cards would help those people know that they aren't forgotten.

"I think they'll feel proud to know that somebody out there cares about them," Rohan said.