Classroom lesson spreads the spirit of giving
Following are comments from students in Mrs. Stacy Crabb's fourth-grade class at Superior Elementary about this year's Christmas shopping trip to benefit local families in need.
"I thought of kids getting that feeling of joy seeing a present under the tree". - Alli Parks
"It makes me so happy". - Braydon Graham
"It was lots of fun and amazing. I loved the thought that these little things would change someone's Christmas, and I loved seeing all the coins we raised. And I loved shopping". -Mataea Schultz
"The shopping trip was really fun, and I felt really good buying those toys for the children". - Dallas Beierle
"I am so lucky that I got to do it and as I was walking through the store, I thought about how happy the kids were going to be when they got the presents. It was also really, really, really, fun". - Brylin Allard
"I thought it was for a great cause and a moving way to help the community". - Rose Moree
"It makes me feel warm when I do something kind for someone else". - Emmett Firestone
"I really loved to buy things for people in need". - Kori Pearce
"I'm so glad that we got to shop for kids in need with the support of the community". - Harper Frawley
Crabb has been doing this with her students for so long that she can't remember when this began.
"It has probably been at least 12 years. I have always had a project similar to this to help kids learn the joy of providing service to others," she reflects. "I used to work with Women in Timber to purchase gifts for their gift-giving project that they did with the Lion's Club food baskets. Now, the Lion's Club and other volunteers purchase the gifts and food baskets that are delivered."
There are a lot of moving parts to this charitable action each year that begins just before Thanksgiving.
"My students decorate coin cans to distribute to each classroom and several businesses in the community," Crabb explained. "We ask those students from pre-K through 6th to donate spare change or whatever they would like to offer. After about two weeks, the cans are collected, and Trail's West Bank graciously counts the money collected and records the total for each class. This year, $1,400.65 was raised. Our fourth-grade class raised the most at $213.55, but the ice cream party will go to Ms. Nygaard's third-grade class who raised the second most, which was $157.29."
Last Monday afternoon, the fourth-grade class took to the streets of Superior on a mission of making their friends Christmas a little more festive.
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