Student Finds $5,000 in Costume for School Play

What would you do if you found $5000 in cash? India Williams, who just completed seventh grade at Lakehill Preparatory School in Dallas, found exactly that in an old donated jacket while preparing for the middle school's play. India found the money during a May 11 dress rehearsal while looking through some old suits to find a costume for her role as a craps player. She said she thought about keeping some of it, but then promptly turned it over to her music teacher.

The 12-year-old has considered what it could have been used for – paying tuition and helping her mother with bills. She's being praised by her mother, teachers, school administrators and others, including Robin Silvas of Dallas, whose late father, Ishmael Silvas, had stashed the money in the coat.

"I saw this white envelope. I looked at it and saw writing on it. I opened it and I saw it was a bunch of hundred-dollar bills," she said. "I looked over at my friend Sydney and said I found some money. She came over and said 'Is it real?' It was real money, and right then and there I knew it wasn't anything that had to do with the school." Kenya Lacy said she's proud of her daughter. "People have said, 'I wouldn't have done that.' All she knew is that the money didn't belong to her."

Silvas said her father, a retired insurance systems analyst, grew up poor and often stashed money. He was the oldest of eight children raised by their grandparents in a little house in West Dallas. After he moved from his home, his daughter found money in the floors, in pockets, in books and in envelopes.

It turned into an ethics lesson for everyone involved. Parents struggle with how to raise honest children in a dishonest world. Stories like this allow us to see that all our children are not what we see on the news. India, kudos for doing the right thing. Yes, it is sometimes hard to do the right thing but your conscious won't bother you when you do. Way to go! Both India and her mother should be praised, but isn't it a sad commentary on our society that honesty rates a special news story. What would you do in this situation?