Allen-Cockerm Bring Valentines Gifts for Girls of WGHS

On February 13th, the day before Valentines day, Coach Cockerm and Mr. Allen decided to give every girl at the school a Valentines gift as WGHS. What was once thought to be a simple idea turned into a day many girls at WGHS will never forget!
by Mariana Castaneda

On February 13th, the day before Valentine's Day, Coach Cockerm and Mr. Allen decided to give every girl at the school a Valentine's gift at WGHS. What was once thought to be a simple idea turned into a day many girls at WGHS will never forget!

The idea originally came from Mr. Allen, who is a “girl dad,” said Coach Cockerm. Mr. Allen has two daughters and said he has always wanted them to feel special on Valentine's Day. Mr. Allen wanted the same feeling for the girls here at WGHS. “I just wanted all of our girls here to feel valued, seen, and appreciated,” Mr. Allen explained. He said that not everyone gets celebrated on Valentine's Day and wanted to be able to celebrate those who didn't get celebrated. “You think about Valentine's Day. It's the idea of a loved one showing their appreciation to you. A lot of our young ladies sometimes don't get that. Whether they don't have a boyfriend or friend that does it, or sometimes they don't have a dad in their lives, or whatever else, it was an opportunity for me to fill that void I needed to.” Coach Cockerm also wanted to make it clear for the students that they are valued and should feel special on that special day. “We care about all our students, every day, especially on special days. If we could give them anything to make them smile, we want to be a part of that, no matter the cost.”

The reaction from the students was overwhelming. Coach Cockerm said, “I think 100% of them were very happy, excited, and thoughtful. We got several emails thanking us, we had parents thanking us, and everyone overall was very, very happy they got a gift.” The gratitude of the students was so amazing to see. Mr. Allen said there were “lots of hugs” throughout the day, and they even continued into the next week. A young lady at the school even wrote him a poem about how much the gift meant to her.

Coach Cockerm and Mr. Allen showed that sometimes the smallest gestures can have the biggest impact, especially when they come from the heart.