Rockland Students Bring Valentine’s Day to Our Country’s Troops

This Valentine’s Day, thanks to the students at , our American troops abroad will receive valentine cards, snacks, treats, and mini American flags, all made and packaged by the student body.

“My mom is working in the navy,” says Alex Thompson, one of the fifth-graders who led the effort. “She might go away for a year to Iraq. She has a lot of friends over there.”

The list of men and women who will receive the homemade valentine gifts was generated by Rockland students from all grade levels.

“My friend’s brother is over there,” says Hannah Walsh, another fifth-grade leader. “They don’t get to see their families for Valentine’s Day.”

This is the second year the school has hosted the event. Danya Greenberg, a Rockland special education teacher who oversees the event, says she led simlar projects in other communities before coming to Rockland.

“Last year, I had a student with a mother in the military,” Greenberg says of the reason she started the project at Rockland. “This year I wanted the students to initiate it. They’re really the runners, I’m just overseeing it.”

The students gathered the materials and laid out a schedule for teachers and classes to gather in the art room to assemble the valentines. Students from every grade level helped assemble the cards, and on Feb. 11, Greenberg will mail the packages to the soldiers.

Many of the students agreed that their favorite part of Valentine’s Day is the act of giving.

“You get to give stuff to people,” says Thompson. “And it makes them feel good.”