TEXARKANA, Ark. (KSLA) - Some Texarkana, Ark. students received a special envelope Tuesday, Dec. 20 as the Christmas break began... and it wasn’t their report cards.

“Christmas is a time that you want students to be happy and merry, and this is an opportunity for us to bring joy to those kiddos,” said Kendrix Smith, principal of Arkansas Middle School.

Smiling faces were on display Tuesday at Arkansas Middle school, not only because students’ Christmas break began, but because of a special presentation by school leaders. There are more than 900 students who attend the school, and each one received a $10 present for the holidays. This idea came from the school’s principal. Smith says it took them less than two weeks to raise more than $10,000 to finance the project.

“I just went through my phone contacts is started scrolling, writing down names and put together a little text message,” said Smith.

It didn’t take teachers and other staff members long to get on board. Staff member, Kelly Torrans, said it’s not often middle school students are considered during this time of the year.

“We work diligently, building good relationships with our students, and we want them to know we care about them,” said Torrans.

School leaders say they hope this show of support will grow into bigger and better things at Arkansas Middle School.

“One of the things I want to make sure we get out of this is this has an opportunity to have a cultural change for our campus, just to prove that as long as we work together, there is nothing we can’t accomplish,” Smith said.

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