Hillside Elementary collecting Valentine’s Day cards worldwide

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - Valentine’s Day is over but one Canyon ISD school is still celebrating.

The second graders at Hillside Elementary have been collecting Valentine’s Day cards all month and received over 650 cards.

It started with a geography lesson with the 254 counties of Texas to give students a sense of where they were in the state.

“It started just like a good way for the kids to realize where we are in the world and kind of like shrink it down but it’s kind of in the reverse like we’ve seen like how big the world really is if you’ve gotten cards from everywhere,” said Morgan Merriman, second grade teacher at Hillside Elementary.

The lesson quickly grew to include the entire United States and then the world.

“They’re learning the Texas counties and they’re learning the states, where we are in relation to that, and then where the continents and the oceans are in the world,” said Merriman.

She said the community helped get the word out and caused the huge response.

A Facebook post from the school has been shared more than 2,400 times asking people to send cards.

Merriman says her second graders love receiving cards from students at other schools. Some of the cards include facts about the towns they’re sent from and funny jokes for the children.

“When they bring that mail in just to see the light in their faces is truly like what all of this is for,” said Merriman.

The school has gotten cards from all 50 states and has received cards from Japan, Australia, Austria, Germany, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

“They realize that the world is big, but it’s yet also so small, and we’re all so connected and like just showing that kindness I hope that them receiving it and loving receiving it, that they’ll just go out into the world and keep giving and giving and giving,” said Merriman.

Merriman hopes that students will learn several lessons from this experience.

“I just hope they take away that kindness in the world still exists,” said Merriman. “There are random strangers spending money to go out and buy a card and mail it to us, you know, share it.”

After February, Hillside Elementary will use the cards for its curriculum.

“We have saved all the cards and we plan to start our letter-writing unit by writing thank you notes to those who sent us cards,” said Merriman. “We are also going to reach out to other second grade classrooms that have sent us letters and see if they want to continue as pen pals. Creating a bond with kids in a different state would be really cool. What if they turned out to be college roommates and they had their second grade teachers to thank?”

If you want to participate, address your cards to Hillside Elementary second grade at 9600 Perry Ave Amarillo, Tx 79119.

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