Coloma elementary students make Valentine's Day cards for veterans

BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich.- Valentine’s Day is just two days away, and what better way to tell someone you care than by sending them a card. Well, that’s exactly what kids at one local elementary school did in Coloma.

Students at Coloma Elementary were able to show their appreciation for military veterans by making Valentine’s Day cards for them.

“I read words like fearless and generosity, and they see the veterans as heroes, and they wanted to support them and say thank you and let them know they were missed by the family and their friends,” Lance LaVanway, a third-grade teacher at Coloma Elementary School said.

A letter was sent out to teachers at Coloma Elementary School a couple of weeks ago, asking classrooms to participate in sending Southwestern Michigan Veteran Support Group letters to send to veterans and active soldiers, just in time for valentine’s day.

"To make them feel loved and to make them feel safe and when they get to their family they feel so happy,” third-grader Analisia said.

“I knew that it would go to them and they worked so hard, that they, the whole class, that our teacher wanted us to make them so that they felt loved too,” first-grader Maggie said,

Students in Lance LaVanway’s third-grade class expressed interest in making Valentine’s cards for family and friends, and some thought it would be great to include veterans as well.

Chere Phillips's first-grade class, allowed for a teaching moment to learn more about veterans' service to the country.

“I found some pictures for them to color that said thank you for the veterans, so they got to choose which one they wanted to color and then put their name on it, “ Phillips said. “We talked about doing their best just like the veterans do for us.”