The old saying “love makes the world go round” materialized in grand fashion for first graders at Crittenden County Elementary School. What started as a simple Valentine card project gathered grassroot support when requests to share the country and the world with students went viral. To date, nearly 1,200 pieces of mail from all 50 states and each continent found their way to 120 Autumn Lane, creating a sense of wonder and excitement among our youngest Rockets.
“We received postcards, pamphlets, Valentine cards, stickers, an Army patch, and even some homemade elephants from Thailand,” said student teacher Alexis Long, who helped develop the project.
Mollie Tabor, Long’s supervising teacher, said she was as excited as the children to check the school mailbox each morning. “We don’t know how it was shared in some places or why we got mail from some of the countries, but it brought us so much joy,” she said.
After the letters were opened and read, their origins were charted on both state and world maps in the first-grade hallway. The students’ favorite card, according to Tabor, was from the North Pole. They also received a package of 600 handwritten cards from a high school in Florida, more than 100 cards from a college sorority, stones from Lake Michigan, and even money from Honduras. The farthest mail arrived from Australia.
Tabor said in addition to learning facts about states and countries, the students participated in writing lessons about the project, as well. “Overall,” said Tabor, “I think the most important thing it taught us is that there are kind people all over the world--people who are willing to take time out of their day to send a first grader some love.”
First grader Brady Hall agrees. “It taught us how important it is to show love,” he smiled.
And a little extra love in the world today is a special delivery, indeed!