BRIDGETON, Mo. — There's no doubt doctors and nurses are going through a lot as they work through this pandemic. That's why a simple gesture from some area school children is helping to give them a pat on the back.
Out of the mouths of babes can come real thoughts, like when you ask fourth graders to describe healthcare workers.
"Superheros. Nice. Hardworking. Helpful. Awesome. Kind. Very very helpful,” a group of students from Rose Acres Elementary students said.
Standing in the cold, the students decided to brave it because they had a task at hand.
"We wanted people to know we care about them and those notes will help them,” Kayla Newsome said.
So she and her classmates took a trip to SSM Health with a special delivery. Hand-written letters with special messages such as "You're doing great” and "Thank you for sacrificing your time with your family to help our families."
They're doing it through a pandemic that doesn't seem to be going anywhere.
"Gestures like this mean a lot to those who are still responding that,” said Seth Lovell of SSM Health.
Doctors, nurses, and healthcare staff received so much recognition when COVID-19 first surfaced.
"A lot of us fail to realize we’re seeing astronomical hospitalizations due to COVID still right now, much larger than we saw in the first or second wave," Lovell said.
So this is a special way of saying thank you. Their teachers call it a lesson in empathy.
"They're 10," said Mary Spitzmiller. "They've lived in this pandemic. They know what it's like to go to school through a pandemic and they are learning how to feel what others feel.”
Since we’re all fighting to get through it, why not add a little kidness to someone else's day.
"It felt good to help and give someone something that will mean a lot to them,” Newsome added.
That hospital visit coincides with Kindness Month at the school as well as those fourth graders’ current lesson on how to write a letter. One of those letters asked doctors if they could end COVID-19 soon.