Over 716 candy grams were sold this year (2025-2026) at the iSchool, marking it as one of the highest sold in recent years. For many students, it’s just a small bag of candy given out at the end of the day with a short note attached.
But behind every bag was a week of work from iCare students and Ms. Colon.
From promoting to packing hundreds of bags and organizing, the process takes more effort than most students realize.
Ms. Colon, the school’s guidance teacher, has worked at the iSchool for 15 years. She has been helping iCare for all this time. iCare originated 14 years ago.
Originally, instead of candy with the heartfelt note we all know it as, there were balloons with heartfelt notes. “It was a good idea, bad idea,” Ms. Colon said. “My room was filled with balloons, and they all got tangled.” Along with this, there were flowers and teddy bears before ultimately being candy.
Currently, iCare hosts an event for the month. For events like candy grams, it doesn’t go in their pockets it’s a way to raise money for the school. “It is a fundraiser for iCare,” Ms. Colon said. “I think a lot of people don’t realize that iCare does all these things for the school. It is for the school, and for iCare, there is a lot that has to go in as well.”
Ms. Colon lives in Queens and has to travel to Costco to buy approximately 20 assorted bags of candy, then back into the city and up the stairs.
“It’s a pain,” she admitted. She explained that planning the amount of candy is tricky. “I take a certain amount of labels and say, ‘That’s what we have. Once we sell that out, then I know the exact amount of candy I have to buy,’ she said. This helps prevent last-minute shopping or leftover candy to return. “It used to be stressful,” she recalled. “One year I didn’t have enough, and I had to figure out when to go back and how to get it into the city. Now I just plan ahead, and it works out.”
Many people don’t know that candy grams need a full week of work beforehand.
Promotions, including posters and announcements, are essential to make sure everyone knows about the event. It is hard to sell to people, sorting the candies along with having to deliver the candy grams.
Sales run for five days, and Kio, a senior who has been part of iCare since 9th grade, says that promotion is the hardest. “Not everyone wants to do it,” Kio explained. “We need a lot of people to buy it to make a profit.”
iCare members form rows, opening plastic bags and scooping candy in, making sure there is an even amount of chocolate and gummies. Then they attach the label, which includes the name and room number.
When candy grams enter the classroom, reactions are from laughter to surprise both turn into meaningful moments.
Before any candy gram is complete, Ms. Colon reads every single note. “If you’re taking the time to pay one dollar to send a message to someone, I hope it has meaning.”
She reviews every single note to make sure no one is being cruel or impersonating another. Over 14 years, there has not been an instance of this, but Ms. Colon stated, “I will absolutely deal with that.”
Most messages, she explained, are thoughtful and meaningful. Some are to friends, others secret admirers (oh lalala), and some are inside jokes from teachers to other teachers. “I don’t know what it means,” she said of some teacher notes, “but it obviously means something to them.”
Besides raising money for the school, what else are candy grams and other events like it for? For the iSchool, academics are important, but “if you don’t feel a part of a community, what’s the point?”
Oliver, a senior who has been in iCare since freshman year, said, “It’s all about sharing love and keeping school spirit alive. You can send a candy gram to your crush, your friends, or even teachers, and it’s always fun to see how people react.”
Despite all of this, she said, “One of my favorite moments is packing with the team because you have music, you’re all working together, and it just brings people closer.”
While many people just see a small bag of candy and a short note, it is much deeper than that. From every Costco run to every hour sorting candy and so much more, in the end, each candy gram represents something simple but meaningful a reminder that someone took a moment to think about someone else.
