Doolittle Students Wrap Up Some Holiday Cheer
January 10, 2010 by John Rook
The cafeteria at Doolittle School was abuzz the week before Christmas, as second-grade students crowded around circular tables: scissors in one hand, a roll of masking tape in the other, and colorful wrapping paper seemingly everywhere.
It was reminiscent of a scene out of Santa’s workshop, as toys and presents were prepared carefully for delivery around the holiday season. And, the beneficiary of the students’ hard work would be local a family struggling to provide during the holiday season.
“This has been a difficult year for many people,” said Doolittle teacher Mara Weed. “We thought this would be a nice thing to do.”
Instilling in her students a desire to give back, especially during the holiday season when so many children are focused solely on what will be waiting for them under the tree, was important to Weed and the other faculty members who participated, so they contacted Cheshire Social Services to inquire about the organization’s Adopt-A-Family program, which helps provide all different types of essentials to struggling families. Social Services promptly provided a list of items the students and faculty could obtain for different members of a family, from adults to small children.
With the list in hand, the teachers ventured out to purchase as many of the items as possible, but all of the money came from the students and their families, an important aspect of the program, Weed acknowledged, since it allowed the students to feel personally connected to the cause.
“We thought it was important and emphasized that this was their money,” explained Weed. “Students brought in anywhere from a dollar to $5 to help. We ended up being able to buy everything that was on the list, and more.”
In fact, when all was said and done, the students had raised over $450 to help purchase different items and, on Dec. 14, the group assembled to help wrap their gifts so that each one would arrive right on time for Christmas.
“This is a lot of fun,” said second-grader Ryan Orozco. “I think what we did was important because the family doesn’t really have anything and we are helping to give them something.”
That was the sentiment expressed by most of the second-graders during their wrapping day. Each one spoke of how they realized, because of the project, that some people don’t wake up to a living room filled with gifts and toys, and that any little bit they could do would help.
“We are doing this so that people can have gifts,” said Jake McAlinden. “That is important for Christmas so they have a nice time.”
During the wrapping event, each table in the cafeteria was responsible for certain items. While one group of students might have been working with an Indiana Jones board game, another was busy with gloves and mittens. Teachers wandered throughout the cafeteria helping when needed and making sure everyone stayed on track.
As second-grader Julia Modine busily wrapped her item in snowflake paper, she smiled widely when asked if she felt good knowing that someone would be opening that gift on Christmas morning.
“Yes,” she said, emphatically. “It will be great.”
For Weed, the pride her students were taking in helping provide for a family was evident, and that, as much as anything, was worth their involvement in the program.
“For seven- and eight-year-olds, to get them out of where they are developmentally, and to get them thinking about other people, is just so important,” said Weed. “That is why this experience has been so terrific for them.”