SAN ANTONIO — A sweetheart surprise created by teachers for students has been a tradition for several years now at a North East Independent School District magnet school. It's a simple act of kindness that requires three basic school supplies and insight from the teachers who know their students well.
Ninth graders at the International School of the Americas get a handmade Valentine's Day heart each year – crafted with love by their teachers who brainstorm.
From words like kind, energetic and caring to gregarious, dynamic and amiable – the teachers get together and brainstorm three words that fit each student individually during their planning periods.
Mitzi Moore, who teaches Digital Media, has led the effort, which has been going strong for a while now for about seven to eight years.
"And on Valentine's Day, we hang them up in the hallway as a surprise. And so the kids will take them off the wall and they'll stick them on their shirt and they'll wear them all day and understand that they have certain qualities that we appreciate and love about them," she said.
Moore said the students enjoy the surprise of seeing a colored heart waiting for them on the wall. She shared videos with KENS 5 of years past – showing their smiles as they discovered their own personalized valentine.
"Sometimes they don't know what the words mean because sometimes we specifically pick words that they'll have to look up that they'll incorporate into their personal dictionary. So that's kind of fun," Moore said. "We keep doing it because something that we can do that makes us excited and gets the kids excited. And it's the time of year, Valentine's Day, when you're supposed to show appreciation for everyone. And so that's what we do."
The basic supplies needed are things every school has – paper, scissors and markers, Moore said. What takes a bit of time though is the brainstorming as the teachers meet together to come up with three specific words to describe each student.
"It's really an easy thing to do because your school has paper and markers and tape and that's really all you need – and time," she said. "It does take time to sit around and contemplate what it is about each student that we want to recognize and appreciate."
Moore added that it's fulfilling to focus on students' positive attributes instead of dwelling on their behavior.
"To to flip the script and talk about positive things is a really joyful experience," she said.