HOSPITAL GIVES SUPPLIES, TREATS TO NEARBY SCHOOL

Cheers filled the hallways of Franklin Elementary School Monday afternoon, followed by choruses of "Thank You."

First it was kindergarten, then second grade, then sixth grade. Within a few minutes everyone joined in. The thank-yous were to Southeast Missouri Hospital, the school's neighbor to the north.

The hospital gave Franklin three plastic trunks full of emergency supplies, but the students were really cheering for cupcakes and punch the hospital gave everyone.

Hospital marketing director Nancy Bray said the school and hospital share a lot, including a 70th birthday this year.

"We wanted to do something nice for our neighbors," Bray said.

The school requested items for disaster preparedness. So the hospital furnished sheets, towels, a shovel, ax, hammer and nails, waterproof matches, and a pocketknife among other things like large tarps that can be draped over playground equipment to make a shelter.

Cupcakes and punch made a nice afternoon break for the youngsters, Bray said.

The hospital also will prepare lunch for the teachers at the end of the school year.

Principal Jim Watkins asked that the gifts be presented on Monday to kick off the school's Random Acts of Kindness Week. Students and staff are encouraged to use the rest of the week to do kind things for their neighbors in school or at home.

In addition to the treats, the hospital provided pencils, note pads and neon green cardboard sunglasses.

The hospital also developed a fact sheet about the early years of both the hospital and the school. "We wanted this to be a little educational," Bray said.

For example, students learned that in the early days many patients at Southeast couldn't pay their hospital bills with cash. Instead, payment was frequently a piglet, armloads of sweet corn and tomatoes, and sometimes a box of live hens.

When the school opened Sept. 6, 1927, it was the first to be built in the city's west end. Franklin has had only five principals in its history.

During the same year an invention called television was demonstrated for the first time, bread cost 8 cents a loaf and Hostess cakes and A&W root beer were introduced.