By Allison Peck
THEDFORD, Neb. — In a village of 195 people tucked into the Nebraska Sandhills, five United States Postal Service crates were carried into a kindergarten classroom.
They were filled to the top.
Cards. Packages. Stickers. Candy. Postcards. School supplies. Souvenirs.
One student looked at the growing stack of mail and shouted, “Holy cheeseballs!!”
Kindergarten teacher Dawn McFadden laughed. She had hoped for 20 cards.
Instead, her first year in the classroom has turned into something she said she could have never predicted.
“I had been thinking about doing the project for several months,” McFadden said. A teacher in another Nebraska district tried something similar last year and described it as “wildly successful.” McFadden thought it would be something fun to attempt during her first year teaching.
She created a flyer, sent it home with students and posted it on her own social media page. The goal was simple: collect Valentine’s Day cards from all 50 states and show her kindergarteners that the world extends far beyond rural Nebraska.
“There weren’t any certain conversations,” she said. “I feel as an educator it’s important to broaden my student’s horizons of different culture, people, places and things. Our world is a very interesting place.”
If 20 cards arrived, she would have considered it a success.
Within two weeks, more than 300 had come in. Students colored in a United States map as each state was represented. Soon, the entire country was filled in — multiple times.
Then the packages started arriving.
“There were 5 USPS crates full of cards and packages, all being carried into our classroom,” McFadden said. “It was crazy!”
Inside were handwritten notes from strangers encouraging students to study hard, listen to their teacher and remember they matter.
“People have been so caring,” she said. “I’m very touched by people taking time out of their lives to send a card to us.”
The class has now received cards from all 50 states — multiple times — and from 20 countries.
The reach, however, did not happen by accident.
Elle Worley, a digital creator with more than 20,000 followers on her account, Tails From the Prairie, at the time of posting, partnered with McFadden to amplify the classroom’s request online. Originally from Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., Worley now lives in rural Nebraska and says she feels strongly about using her platform to highlight small communities.
“I’ve always said that if I ever had an audience online, I would use it to amplify topics and stories that matter to me,” Worley said. “Small towns are full of great people and their powerful stories but they don’t always have the reach. If I can be a bridge between places and help connect people, I will. It’s important to me to remind people that there are meaningful stories in rural America, too.”
She began sharing videos about the kindergarten class on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. On Instagram alone, videos related to the project have received more than 650,000 views. Across platforms, the total has climbed even higher.
For comparison, that is more than 3,300 times the population of Thedford.
Worley said she believed the class could reach all 50 states. She did not expect the international response or the wave of generosity that followed.
“I did not expect people to start sending packages from around the world or to buy out Dawn’s Amazon teacher wishlist…multiple times,” she said. “That part exceeded my expectations.”
One video featuring her rescue dog, Juni, helped push the project even further. Juni previously went viral after Worley shared her rescue story online, creating a loyal audience.
“I had so many comments saying they were sending cards ‘because of the dog,’” Worley said. “I think she might have been the real influencer in this situation.”
Comments flooded in asking where to send cards. Other teachers said their classrooms wanted to participate. People from across the country — and around the world — mailed cards and packages to a kindergarten classroom in the Sandhills.
“We’ve heard from people across the country and around the world who said they loved being part of something positive,” Worley said. “I think people felt like this was something real and safe that they could get involved with and make a difference.”
For students in Thedford, the experience quickly became a living geography lesson. They located countries on a globe as international mail arrived. They talked about distance, animals and different cultures. Other grades stopped to admire the growing display.
“Last week I overheard a couple 5th grade boys break out in the ‘state song’ in the hallway when they went by our map,” McFadden said.
The class shared treats and goodies with the entire school, which serves just 65 students preschool through sixth grade.
The district hosted a card reception, inviting parents and community members to view the display of cards and packages. In a town of 195, it became a point of pride.
“The parents, community and everyone are really excited,” McFadden said.
Worley believes the project resonated because it offered something tangible during a time when much of the world feels overwhelming.
“The world feels really heavy right now,” she said. “There’s so much difficult news, and it can feel like the problems are so vast that there’s nothing you can actually do. This project gave people something tangible. They could write a card, send a letter, mail a package, and know they were making a difference for children.”
Perhaps most surprising, she said, is how many adults reached out saying the project encouraged them too.
“I went into this hoping it would help the children,” Worley said. “I didn’t expect it to have a double impact.”
For McFadden, the experience has been unforgettable.
“It’s been unbelievable to see the response of so many people willing to send a small, rural class a Valentine,” she said. “It has turned into something I could’ve never predicted.”
Despite the overwhelming success, she does not plan to continue the project beyond Valentine’s Day.
“Although it has been a remarkable project, I need to focus on getting our classroom back to normal,” she said. “I think this was a luck of the draw with social media. I’m not certain the pattern is repeatable.”
Still, the lesson will remain.
When asked what she hopes her students remember years from now, her answer was simple.
“Kindness matters.”
From a village of 195 to more than 650,000 Instagram views and 20 countries around the globe, a partnership between a first-year teacher and a digital creator proved that even the smallest classroom can reach the world.