Letters of Love from Lakeview
By Jensen, Randy on March 25, 2020.
Students from Lakeview Elementary School have been writing letters of appreciation to frontline workers during the COVID019 epidemic. Photo submittedGreg Bobinec
Lethbridge Herald
What started out as a quiet gesture from a young student has grown into a school initiative to thank the frontline workers during their commitment to provide services in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When Lakeview Elementary School teacher Jen Latham was going through the remainders of her class’s pick-up items, she noticed a personal note written from one of her students, stating that they will be missing class time with her and thanking her for all of her work. Spreading the kindness, Latham thought it would be a good project for her class to take on to thank the frontline workers with a the Letters of Love assignment.
“When we packed up all of the kids’ stuff which was laid out in the gym, when I went in one day after most of the students had been there, there was a note left from one of my own students just thanking me and telling me how much they are going to miss school,” says Latham. “I sent a picture of the letter to my own children and one of my sons said he wished he would get a letter like that. So I thought about all the people that could use a letter of love right now and I put it out there and it is school-wide now.”
Since starting last week, Lakeview has published around 30 Letters of Love for police officers, grocery store workers, food delivery, health-care professionals and more. Throughout the process, Latham says the response has been positive and many people still working publicly are thankful for the support.
“We have had a response from the police officers and a response from some nurses and doctors, so we are hoping that it is a positive experience for everyone,” says Latham “This is something for the frontline workers because we are all appreciative of what they are still doing as the rest of the world is shutting down.”
Latham hopes people in the community will follow along with Lakeview Elementary classes as they help spread a positive message in the community during this stressful time.
“We are hoping that it will keep expanding from just Lakeview Letters of Love. We were thinking it could maybe go into Lethbridge Letters of Love,” says Latham. “Little things like our garbage man who came and picked up our garbage today, I thought that I should leave a big thank you on the garbage can, or every time a bus drives by and leave a sign out thanking them.”
If you would like to view some of the Letters of Love by Lakeview students, or if you or your children would like to submit their own Letter of Love, visit their Facebook page, Twitter, or their website lv.lethsd.ab.ca.
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14-13
Thank you, Ms. Latham, and thank you to all of your students for their letters of love!