Staff writer
Centre Elementary School third- and fourth-grade students spent one day recently creating crafts and greeting cards to sell as a fundraiser for gifts for needy children.
“We wanted to teach the kids about giving to others,” third-grade teacher Karen Nickel said. “It’s about empathy, because not everybody has it as good as we do.”
“This was a fabulous message to pass on to our students,” fourth-grade teacher Amy Carlson said.
The 31 students handcrafted snowman, elf, Santa, and reindeer tree ornaments and greeting cards to sell to their families, friends, and neighbors.
The teachers were gratified to see the eagerness with which students tackled the project.
“The students were very excited, and their understanding grew as the day progressed,” Nickel said. “They were focused and cared about the work they were producing and couldn’t wait to get home to start selling it,” Nickel said. “I went home feeling very good about the message we instilled in our students. I couldn’t stop smiling.”
Nickel said the response from students, parents, extended family members, and surrounding communities was overwhelming. One student took crafts and cards to church. A family posted the project on social media and got orders through that.
“We ran out of ornaments and cards once, and we are hoping to make a few more this week,” Nickel said.
Any leftover crafts will be sold Friday at Centre’s home basketball games.
Nickel and fourth-grade teacher Amy Carlson will collect the money and use it to buy gifts for several 9-to-10-year old children. After their students get to see them, the gifts will be turned over to Margo Yates, director of the area community Christmas program, for distribution.