Tucson Region

Shower of good will falls on city

Did you feel the love Wednesday morning? Tucson students were sending it your way. At 10 a.m., students in just about every school district in Tucson stopped to send positive thoughts to friends, relatives and strangers. Beth Walkup created the idea to give students a chance to gather some good thoughts amidst preparing for AIMS and other big tests. The day and time had no significance, said Kim Babeu, a physical-education teacher at Flowing Wells Junior High and 2004 Arizona Teacher of the Year who helped coordinate the day. It was picked seemingly out of thin air, she said. Walkup and her committee contacted every public and private Pima County school to be involved in the event. Some - such as those in the Marana and Sunnyside unified school districts - declined because they already have daily moments for positive thoughts. Others districts embraced it thoroughly. Dressed in T-shirts and shorts, the girls in Babeu's class stood on the basketball court in a circle, arms waving above their heads. At Babeu's request, they faced one of the six schools in the Flowing Wells district and sent 15-second thoughts of good will. Then they sent some good thoughts to the classmates at their own school. After participating with the group, Walkup, wife of Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup, said she would call Tucson Electric Power to see if there were any power surges between 10 and 11 a.m. "There was a lot of positive energy coming from you today," Walkup told the girls. Babeu wasn't sure how Tucson citizens would be affected by the shower of good will, but said some aspect of the city was bound to improve. "Maybe even the crime rate will drop for a couple of minutes," she said. Some of the girls involved said they just "wished for people to have a good day." Others, such as 12-year-old Kirsten Winsatt, sent messages to siblings in other Flowing Wells schools and relatives elsewhere to "do the best they can today." Walkup's and Babeu's enthusiasm afterward suggested that this could happen again in 2006. Mostly, they agreed, they would do it to benefit the kids. "If it puts a glimmer in their minds about how they'll think," Walkup said, "that will be terrific."