Messages from afar: Valentine's Day cards arrive to Warrensburg-Latham from across the globe

WARRENSBURG, Ill. (WAND) — What started out as a Facebook post by a second-grade teacher at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School turned into an one-of-a-kind opportunity for students to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Carla Miller got the idea after seeing a blog post about a second grade classroom trying to collect a Valentine from all 50 states. However, Miller's post reached a bigger audience than she could have imagined with cards being delivered to the students from multiple countries.

“We have got some from the Netherlands, we’ve got one from Thailand, some from Japan, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Europe. They’ve came from everywhere.”

In total, the class has collected 468 Valentines and has met their goal of having at least one card from every state. Teachers and students have been surprised at the generosity of strangers as they have sent cards, candy, and care packages to help celebrate the holiday. The biggest goal for Miller when starting this project was to teach her students about kindness while creating a memorable experience for the kids.

“They loved it, they come out here and look at this all the time. And we talk a lot to them about kindness all through the year, but this has been a lesson that we have been able to teach them that didn’t come from a story book or anything like that. And it is the fact that somebody is showing kindness to them, and they are just so excited about that, they are just amazed.”

In addition to cards, some of the things that the students have received so far include sunglasses from the sunshine state of Florida, a card from Walt Disney World signed by all the fan favorite characters like Mickey Mouse and Pluto, and a care package from the United States Army. Second grade student Scarlett Sibthorp shared the lesson that she has learned from receiving all the cards.

“They are all from somebody who are not just doing it for fun, but they are doing it to be kind. I am going to remember all the time that people spent making the cards and writing them and all the cards that we got.”

By teaching the second-grade class a valuable lesson about kindness and celebrating with Valentines from around the globe, this is a holiday that students and teachers are sure to remember for years to come. The class will still be collecting cards until the end of February.