Elementary class receives worldwide messages of love for Valentine's Day

Feb. 15—Valentine's Day is all about sharing love with others, but when a local elementary school class decided to request Valentines from other places, they weren't prepared for the love they received from strangers around the world.

Courtney Jones and her Pulaski Elementary class decided to use Valentine's Day as a way to learn more about the United States. So, Jones put out the call on her Facebook page, asking for a postcard or letter from people in other states.

Jones said she had no idea her request would be so successful.

"I saw somebody else do it on social media a couple years ago, so we just decided to try it out and see what would happen," Jones said. "The feedback that we've gotten from it is pretty crazy, honestly."

The project became known as "I Love the World." As of Wednesday morning — Valentine's Day — the class had received notes from 48 states and Washington, D.C., and were expecting mail to arrive from the last two states shortly.

On top of that, they received mail or virtual cards from a slew of different countries: The Philippines, Estonia, Canada, Australia, Greece, the United Kingdom, Guam, Italy, Taiwan, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia.

They also received mail from the Great Navajo Nation, she said.

"I thought maybe we would get a couple of things from family and friends here locally," she said. "I could never imagine we would be receiving mail from all over the world. And not only mail, we've been getting full packages and stuffed animals and food from different countries for my kids to try. It's been really neat to see."

That includes getting leis from Hawaii, maple suckers from Vermont, bagels from New York and a box of Mackinac Island fudge from Michigan.

The class has also received stuffed animals, such as some camels from Dubai.

"None of these people really know my kids or me, so people are just doing it to be kind, which I think is just awesome," she said.

Her class contains students from first through fifth grade, and Jones seemed grateful for the outpouring of support for her kids.

"It's been refreshing to see that even though my kids are different, that the world is going to be kind and accepting to them. We don't always hear stuff like that. It's been really eye-opening for me to know there are nice and positive selfless people out there willing to go out of their way for people they don't even know."

The students themselves have taken on the project with gusto, she said.

"They have loved checking the mail," she said. "I didn't think that would be something that they would take to as well as they did. They have even gotten into the routine of knowing what time the post office comes."

She said that the students even wait for the mail "impatiently" when they know it's time for their deliveries.

"They're excited to see what they get each day."

The messages have also turned into a way of studying those places. The class has put up a board of the United States, and have colored in the states as they received mail from them.

They have also been sent videos from different places. One person from Ukraine sent a video in which she showed students the sights of her city as she walked around.

Jones said they have received 156 pieces of mail already, and will likely continue to keep getting packages until the end of February.

Carla Slavey can be reached at cslavey@somerset-kentucky.com