Happy Valley students create Valentine’s Day cards for veterans

Valentine’s Day is a day where loved ones show one another how much they care, but loved ones are not always present, and those who work to ensure their loved ones’ safety often do so alone.

Ashleigh Drake, one of the Counselors for Happy Valley Middle School, said she wanted her students to learn about the value of serving their community. Her solution: Valentine’s Day cards.

“We set up a table in the cafeteria with blank cards for students to fill out,” Drake said. “My classes then decorated them.”

These Valentine’s Day cards are not meant for middle school crushes, however. Instead, Drake’s students are sending the cards to veterans across the country.

“We are going to send them to Operation Gratitude, who will send them out,” she said.

While she said the project did not have any rhyme or reason to it, Drake did say the project is part of a series of efforts she is putting on to create a different culture among the students.

“We are trying to teach about kindness in the school, and we wanted to extend it to those outside the community,” she said.

After everything was said and done, Drake said the students filled out and created between 300 and 400 Valentine’s Day cards in total.

“I am really proud of them,” she said. “You could see their excitement as they worked on them.”

Drake said she is planning for other projects for the students to do over the course of this year and next as part of this “Kindness Initiative,” including a food drive during Thanksgiving and a project with Ivy Hall Nursing Home.

She said the projects aim to challenge the culture surrounding middle-schoolers.

“Kids can have a narrow mentality at this age,” Drake said. “We want to teach them how to make a difference.”

As a woman from a military family, she said the project spoke to her, as her dad was in the Air Force.

“I want to help them be aware of the world around them, to see people going through their struggles,” Drake said.

She said this was especially true for veterans and active members of the armed forces.

“We want them to understand the reason they have the freedoms they have, because of veterans,” Drake said.

SportsPlus

Local news

The Salvation Army’s White Flag open

Calendar

Visit Roan Mountain

Local news

Elizabethton Police seek community’s help in shoplifting incident

Local news

State high court files order lifting Holly’s suspension

Local news

Elizabethton Police seek help identifying suspect in shoplifting incident

BREAKING NEWS

Winter Weather Advisory issued for portions of East Tennessee

Local news

A bright spot fades as TN childhood vaccination rates slip

Local news

Experts: Outdoor activities may beat winter blues, SAD

Local news

Johnson City Commission meeting schedule changes due to inclement weather forecasts

Local news

Johnson City settles serial rapist class action lawsuit for $28M

Local news

First Baptist Elizabethton free food bag distribution rescheduled to Feb. 27

Local news

Workforce Solutions hosts music business coaching course

Local news

The 200th Peters Hollow Egg Fight: A Tradition Like No Other

Local news

Tennessee gas prices rise slightly amid seasonal transition

BREAKING NEWS

Hazardous Weather Outlook issued for East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Southwest North Carolina

Local news

The Salvation Army’s White Flag Open

Local news

Renowned storyteller Elizabeth Ellis performing at ETSU

Local news

SOFA announces leadership transition

Local news

Elizabethton Woman’s Club sponsors community projects

Church News

Church News

Community

Upcoming Elizabethton Events

Community

Elizabethton Senior Center schedule

Local news

What makes Jesus weep?

Local news

City Council moves to accept applications for city judge