Watch Over Me Bracelets

Skye Darrah-Whitmore, Frankie Budrow, Allie Pado, and Ashley Darrah sell their bracelets.

 "We are the world, we are the children" is a familiar phrase to many of us. At Apalachin Elementary School, first graders have been learning about the devastating tsunamis that affected Asia last month. In Thailand, it is customary to give visitors to that country a bracelet to show connectedness. The first graders have taken this idea to a new level. They made and sold beaded bracelets with the proceeds to go toward the relief effort. The bracelets had silver, jade, and black accents which are symbolic to Thailand. They are called "Watch Over Me Bracelets." Apalachin Elementary students chose these these colors because people who live in Thailand believe that silver warns off illness and misfortune;  jade is for protection, wisdom, and luck; and black sapphire is believed to protect them from harm and to console their sadness.