Medinah students make, bake Valentines for troops

A class of third-graders at Medinah Intermediate School put a new spin on their traditional Valentine's Day crafts Friday.

Instead of making projects that would end up hanging on the wall, the children in teacher Kathy Davy's class created Valentines and care packages to send to troops overseas. Room mother Tina Figarelli, whose daughter Kaitlyn is in Davy's class, suggested the idea.

"This year, because of the economy, everything going on around the world and all the trauma, I thought it would be a good thing for the kids to write thank-you cards to the soldiers and let them know they appreciate what they are doing," Figarelli said. "They should know families are sacrificing without their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters being here."

Figarelli and Davy put the call out for parents to donate care-package items and by Friday they had nine computer boxes full of soaps, stationery, cards and other items.

The third-graders also spent Friday incorporating their math lessons in measurements by baking cookies to include in the packages. The boxes will be shipped to relatives of school staff who are serving in the military and stationed overseas.

Because Davy's class received such a positive response to their efforts this year, Figarelli said she hopes to make it a tradition and incorporate the whole school next year.

"(Students) need to know and understand in this day and age what is going on in the world," Figarelli said.