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Grand Prairie Elementary Students Sending 'Love and Hugs' To Children in West

Second graders at Seguin Elementary School in Grand Prairie have a message for their peers in West ISD.

“We’re with you” and “You’re in our prayers.”

The messages were written on "gingerbread people" that the children made out of butcher paper this week. Moms laid down on the paper as their children traced them. They worked together to decorate the imaginary figures with hearts and smiles and then wrote words of encouragement.

Teacher Dagmar Cox said her dual-language class wanted to show its support. She said many people have been collecting money and items for the victims of the fertilizer explosion, so she wanted to take a more personable approach. The gifts will be delivered to West students on Friday.

“In our school we are always trying to teach the students to be conscious and trying to do the best always. We are also trying to teach them that they don’t have to give money. They don’t have to give big things. Just things with heart,” Cox said. “That’s why we are doing this…because we want those people to know that we are supporting them and that we are suffering what they are suffering, too.”

Cox told her class that the children of West would need a lot of love and hugs in the coming months.

That sentiment was not lost on her students, who seemed eager to share some positive thoughts.

Brisseiy Montes, 7, said that she wanted to “help a lot.”

David Zavala, 8, said he wanted the children in West to know he was thinking about them.

David Zavala_FeelsBad.mp3
The KERA Story

“I feel bad about the explosion..." he said. "I hope they recover soon and that God will help them and give them strength to move forward."

Grand Prairie ISD, which sent three portable buildings to West after the deadly fertilizer plant explosion last week, has a close connection to the community.

West ISD Superintendent Marty Crawford graduated from Grand Prairie High School and his father, Marvin Crawford, is a former Grand Prairie ISD superintendent.

Stella M. Chávez is KERA’s immigration/demographics reporter/blogger. Her journalism roots run deep: She spent a decade and a half in newspapers – including seven years at The Dallas Morning News, where she covered education and won the Livingston Award for National Reporting, which is given annually to the best journalists across the country under age 35.