Spreading the love

Kennedy Middle school peers carry Valentine's Day candygrams to deliver to students Monday throughout the school. The money raised from the packages will be used to pay for care packages to send to troops in Iraq. (Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent)

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — About 40 students at JFK Middle School spent most of the day Monday in a decidedly unstudent-like way, delivering candy, balloons and valentine's messages to fellow students.

Operation Candygram was an idea developed by members of the school's Peer Mediation group as a way to raise funds to donate to causes in Iraq.

"I think this is great," said Shannon Young, one of the group, adding that this was a wonderful way for students to experience Valentine's Day.

Normally the group mediates disputes between students or counsels students who may be having minor disciplinary problems. But the group this year has also made helping others one of its major goals of this year.

The group managed to raise more than $600 for its cause by making fellow students happy.

For $1.00, a student could send candy and a valentine's card to someone they admired.

For 50 cents extra, a balloon could become part of the gift and many students opted for several balloons which not only provided the group with more money but forced sponsors of the group to start searching for more helium by mid-day.

Members of the group spent the day dropping off the messages, candy and balloons to fellow students while they were in their classes, with a number of the more popular boys and girls at the school finding themselves with several cards, some of them saying only "From a Secret Admirer."

Some of the students also decided to purchase the balloons and cards to take home to their mothers.

And some tacked on personal messages to their cards such as "you're so fine," or, for some reason, "you look so funny in your picture."

Sponsors of the group said hundreds of messages were delivered throughout the day and although some teachers may have been concerned about the disruption to their classes, the school's principal, Sammy Orr, said he had not received one complaint from any of the teachers.

Kathleen Wood, one of the sponsors of the group, said members decided to use this unique approach to raise funds because of the success of efforts earlier this year to raise funds for the Tsunami relief effort.