The children in Teresa Thompson's kindergarten class learn in a world of bright orange letters, red trains and purple numbers -- colors that could have been plucked from rainbows to stimulate 5-year-old minds.

But stuck to the sunshine yellow bulletin board is a photograph in more subdued hues. Several boys stand next to Army Spc. Jonas Dailey, Thompson's nephew, giving a thumbs-up. Their faded T-shirts blend in with the gritty earth tones of the Iraqi desert.

Throughout this year, kindergartners at St. Maurice School in Forest Hills have been keeping those Iraqi children in mind as they go about the daily business of being 5: Learning the alphabet, playing and listening to stories. Each day, when they pray for Dailey and other soldiers, they also pray for those children.

And as part of a lesson in compassion, teachers are helping the kindergartners learn in a way they understand, by sharing the things they love most -- hair ribbons, colored markers and a few toys -- along with items they know children need, such as clothes and school supplies.

The collection is part of Operation I Can, short for Iraqi Children Assistance Network. The project consists of a nonprofit charity put together by the 411th Civil Affairs Army Battalion, which solicits school supplies and other items that soldiers distribute to school-age children. Operation I Can has gathered 20,000 tons of school supplies and raised $10,000 dollars as a nonprofit charity, according to Spc. Christopher Arnold, of the 411th Civil Affairs.

Thompson learned about the project from her nephew and decided to channel the lessons on compassion into something helpful.

For a 5-year-old, empathy and compassion can be a tall order, Thompson explained, but for a child those are really just big words for caring about other people. In one lesson, for example, the kindergartners heard a story about a child who loses a teddy bear, but then gives it to the homeless man who finds it.

Dailey also wrote to the class about life in Iraq, and the children tried to understand the lives of people their age far away. The letter explained that the people in Iraq may have only one or two pairs of clothes.

"They're eyes got really big, like, 'Wow, imagine if you had to wear the same outfit to school every day,' " said Thompson. "You try to explain that a family sleeps in a room half the size of the [kindergarten] room, on the floor, and the children say, 'I hope they have blankets.' And I say, 'Yes, I hope they do.' "

Some of the lessons coming from Dailey's letter were more abstract: "What if you were afraid to leave your house because of fighting?" "What if you couldn't go out and play because you are a girl?"

In addition to providing opportunities to show compassion, the mission of Operation I Can is unabashedly political.

"The most effective way we can foster and spread the ideas that make America great is by affecting schoolchildren who are the pride and future of Iraq," reads the pamphlet put out by Operation I Can.

But the idea of sending supplies to children appeals to both those who supported and those who opposed the war, Thompson said.

"Everyone understands helping children," she said.

Even children, it turns out.

The success of St. Maurice's attempt to find compassion in the kindergartners -- and their parents -- can be seen in the 200 pounds of school supplies, band-aids and clothes packed in boxes in Thompson's room. Since Christmas, her pupils and those from Teresa McDaniel's kindergarten class have brought together about $400 worth of items.

The youngsters' charity expresses a compassion stemming from their identification with the children they learn about.

Francesca Eremic, her curly hair pulled back in a ponytail, said she gave hair clips and bows. "I picked out the colorful ones," she said.

Graziela Gulli, who loves to color, is sending markers. Ryan Doyle picked out a globe, so the children can find "the states." Miranda Nese made a picture of a flower.

And Robby Holleran is sending pencils, "So they can write their own name," he said seriously.