Mary C. Williams Elementary students’ Valentine’s Day project goes viral

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Students in a kindergarten class at Mary C. Williams Elementary School are smiling ear to ear today after a viral Facebook post allowed them to achieve a Valentine’s Day goal.

Erin McDaniel, their teacher, created a project called “Hearts Across the USA” with the goal to receive Valentine’s Day cards from all 50 states.

She posted on Facebook about the project on Thursday, Jan. 26, and the first card from Pennsylvania came through the mail on the following Monday.

The class received over 300 post cards within a few weeks from schools, businesses and strangers from across the nation.

McDaniel didn’t expect her post to take off the way it did, but the success has created a learning experience for the students. She says that when a state is crossed off the list, she teaches the students about that state and helps them learn where it is on a map.

“We’re teaching them about our surroundings, and that there’s more than just our school or even Wilmington. Every time we got a card, we would look at the map and we would kind of pull up information on YouTube or read a book about the state. The kids are really getting experienced and exposed to all the 50 states,” said McDaniel.

Out of all of the states, I’m told that residents of New York and Virginia sent the most cards.

However, the students received more than just post cards. Flowers, puzzles, candy and even special chips from Hawaii were sent to them as part of the project.

McDaniel plans on keeping the post cards to show her future classes and keeping this project as a yearly tradition since the first one was such a success.

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