More than 130 children lined up at Green Valley Elementary School last week to get photographed, fingerprinted, weighed and measured for an identification card that is intended as a resource in the event a child goes missing.

The laminated cards, offered to parents at three for $10, are a little like a driver's license. Parents can carry them around and, if something happens, pull them out and give authorities instant information about their child.

At Green Valley, kids took turns stepping in front of a blue screen that measured their height and also provided a backdrop for photos. Then they stepped forward onto a scale, which weighed them as they touched a screen - no ink involved - to make an electronic fingerprint. Each student through the line was entered into a drawing for a bicycle, which went to kindergartner Olivia Rodgers.

Trussville resident Priscilla Gray brought her 7½-month-old twins, Whit and Brooke, to get carded after she heard about the program from her mother-in-law, a teacher at Green Valley. "I think it's a good idea because nowadays you do hear about so many kidnappings and so many parents who lose their children," Gray said.

The cards were provided by an Odenville franchise of Ident-A-Kid, a Florida-based company with more than 250 locations nationwide, according to its Web site. Karen Cunningham, who runs the franchise with her husband, Keith, said they have worked with several metro area school districts during their two years in the business, but this was their first time in Hoover.

Kathy Paiml, assistant principal at Green Valley, said school leaders decided to offer the program as a service to parents. If there's sufficient interest, the school may offer it again next year so parents can update the cards, she said.

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