Switzerland of Ohio Local School District representatives delivered 300 “calm-down kits” to students at Elm Grove and Middle Creek elementary schools and Bridge Street Middle School.

Those schools in Ohio County serve the areas hit hardest by deadly flash flooding in June.

Kits included items such as fidgets, candy, lip balm and hand sanitizer — which provides “tactile grounding” for students, according to school counselors. There were also stickers and notes of positive affirmation for students in the kits, even some full letters of encouragement.

Imagine the impact of knowing someone many miles away cares enough to remind you they are “thinking of you,” and that “things will get better.”

Southeast Healthcare Services’ Rebekah West told Heather Hines, a counselor at Elm Grove Elementary, that she and her students in Monroe County wanted to do something for those in the Northern Panhandle who were going to need extra support going into the school year.

“When they come back to school, having a note from a student in another district … I felt it would make a big difference for the kids,” West said.

Certainly, it will.

We applaud West and her students for thinking about how to support students across the river and several counties away as those students try to start the school year after a horrific early summer in their communities.

Thank you, folks.