'They showed everyone belongs': Students' surprise holiday cards deliver more than seasonal cheer
For the kids at Oriole Park Junior Public School, it was a holiday mystery that arrived in the mail.
"Usually my parents get all the mail," Grade 2 student Penelope Batal told CTV News Toronto. "So, I've never got a mail addressed to me."
That all changed when she, and every other student at the school, found an envelope sent to their homes, containing a handmade holiday card.
"When I opened it, I thought wow this is amazing," said Grade 5 student Sam Ford. "People put like time and hard work into this ..and I just saw beautiful art–I'm like this belongs in a museum."
The cards had clearly come from the school, but no one knew who made them, or who sent them.
"When I opened it, it just didn't say any name," said student Mia Kopoivica. "So, I was a bit confused."
"Whoever sent this either they're probably shy, or they just forgot," said Simona Bandiera.
It was a purposely unsigned surprise that's had the kids talking ever since.
"They were like 'Oh my god, I got a card, did you get one too?’" said Grade 3 student Avery Gao with a laugh.
"It's been hard," admitted Amaya Gonsalves Haines. "People have been asking us, ‘Who did this? Who did this? Do you know?’"
They both do, because they're two of five Grade 3 students behind this act of holiday kindness.
The group of girls came up with the idea and took it to two teachers.
"The kids were so motivated, so dedicated," teacher Entela Galanxhi told CTV News Toronto. "They were so happy during this process and the joy at the end when they were ready!"
The students worked on the cards during their off hours, and during recess and lunch breaks. In the end, they made more than 300 cards. Canada Post donated the postage, and the kids made sure that every single student got a card sent to them through the mail.
"We wanted to make it for everyone," said Sajna Samra one of the card-makers. "So that everyone can be special."
They also made sure their teachers were included too.
"Staff got these as well," said principal Neil Quimby. "Staff were also excited when they got mail that wasn't a bill. That it was something that kids had created because they wanted to – not because they were told – it was because they wanted to, and they wanted everyone to feel connected."
Student Mehrasa Bakhshi said she and the other card makers kept their names off of the cards on purpose.
"Because this is like something that is not about us, it's about others," she said.
Teacher Carolyn Voight agreed, telling CTV News Toronto, "They didn't make it about themselves. They bought into the selfless act of this holiday moment."
For many of the kids who got an envelope in the mail, there was more to the card than just a piece of paper.
"Whoever made this worked really hard on it, and now they have a new friend they don’t even know," said Grade 2 student Abby Seguin.
Her classmate Madison Shan agreed, saying "I felt really supported, that people cared about me."
What started as a simple card, turned into a gift for students that will last through the holidays and beyond.
"I just felt like very happy that the students here care about everybody in the school," said student Coltrane Lavalley. "And they showed that everyone belongs."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.