SAPULPA, Okla. — Valentine's Day came with a special surprise Tuesday for Sapulpa Junior and High School students. The Valentine's Bandit struck again — leaving gifts with a message for classmates.
"It's amazing you come in here and have all of these hearts all over the walls, doors whatever. It's amazing," said Jessica, the custodian at Sapulpa High School.
Across the campus, there were hearts on lockers, in the cafeteria and even on vending machines. Sapulpa students and teachers discovered their Valentine's gifts when they arrived Tuesday morning.
"One of the other paraprofessionals came in and said, 'I'm so excited it happened again this year,'" said Megan Covery, a paraprofessional at Sapulpa High School's special education program. "And I was like, 'This happens every year?'"
The Valentine's Bandit started leaving gifts in 2018 with a message such as "You are so sweet" or "You are beautiful."
When students find them, many line them up on their school ID lanyards, share them with friends, or stash them away.
"It takes a lot of dedication to do that for the entire school," said Anastasia Wise, a tenth-grade student.
"It's really fun. I'm really happy to see people enjoy what I make," said Madisyn Green, the official Valentine's Bandit.
Green told 2 News Oklahoma she came up with the idea in 8th grade because many of her classmates were moping about, disappointed they had not received a Valentine's gift from classmates.
"Today's world isn't that lighthearted or fun," she said. "So, if I can make it a little bit better — just by using all of my extra scraps I have."
Green is talking about scraps of yarn, crocheted by hand into the shape of a heart. She then comes up with unique words for good and beautiful, prints them out and then pins the heart to the paper. Madi spends hours upon hours of work at home to make her classmates happy. She made 1,208 hearts this year.
Green set up the surprise Monday after class when students had left for the day. With the help of her brother and some very enthusiastic volunteers, they went through each hallway and cafeteria putting up Valentine's inspiration.
Since she is a senior this year, Green is hoping someone else will carry on the tradition of making sure everyone has a Valentine on Valentine's Day. She has even included printed instructions on the back of each heart andmade a video for future Valentine's Bandits at Sapulpa High School.
"I'd like to make the world a nicer place if I could," she said. "I don't know if little hearts will do that but maybe in the future there will be something else I can do."
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