Sierra kids getting creative

This is not the first and probably will not be the last time you hear about the creative efforts by Kyrene de la Sierra students.

A program has been running for over a month now in which the kids come in on their lunch break to put together items for a different group each month.

Last month, the kids involved with We Power put together over 300 necklaces with a personal note attached for the children of the Crisis Nursery in Phoenix.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, parent Lindsey Worthen comes to the school to help the kids in the creative process. This month they are making Tootsie pop flower bouquets for soldiers in Iraq, who will then pass them out to the children over there.

"The kids love it," Carolyn Payne, kindergarten teacher at Sierra, said. "It is really their first opportunity to give something they made to someone else."

Each day, the students can come in for their whole lunch hour and put together as many items of the month as they can.

"It's great to see that they are showing compassion for other people," Payne said.

There are even more endeavors being undertaken at Sierra to show support for the military in Iraq.

The kids in Michelle Willis' kindergarten class recently put together a quilt which displays all 21 of their handprints in the shape of a heart. The quilt will be shipped to Willis' nephew Heath Borland, who was recently redeployed to Iraq.

"I just love it," Willis said of the quilt. "It's just great because a lot of people helped to work on it."

Willis said her class will continue to correspond with the soldier. Ever since he was first deployed, Willis has had her class each year write letters and send gifts to the 23-year-old from Mesa.

Borland visits the classroom and speaks about his experiences each time he returns home. He last visited on Aug. 19.