As Christmas songs resound and baked goods permeate the air, students and parents embrace the Season of Giving to express appreciation for faculty. The student leadership (SL) class plans to present all staff members with a special breakfast on Dec. 10, and the Parent Support Network (PSN) will hand out gift baskets to the teachers two days later.
Although many remain ignorant to the time and effort a teacher applies into an average day, SL feels compelled to recognize their work. Hannah Palmer, ’10, believes the service opportunity to be beneficial and rewarding.
“We started planning the teacher breakfast last week,” Palmer said. “We have to be at school at 4:30 a.m. to start cooking the food and setting the tables. I think it’s great that we are doing this because the teachers should be appreciated for all of their hard work. We want to give back a little bit.”
In order to maintain organization, the class broke into smaller groups in charge of certain tasks. Seniors traditionally buy all the groceries, since most can drive.
“Five seniors are making a grocery run, and the morning of, the whole class will wake up at the crack of dawn and prepare the food,” Katelyn Ayedellote, ’08, said. “We will serve everything from eggs, coffee cake, fruit, and more. I particularly enjoy serving our teachers, because of the influence they have had on my life. It’s a privilege to give back to the people who have given so much to you.”
In addition to preparing and serving the food, each student also creates personal placemats for each staff member.
“Every person in leadership is making a placemat for a teacher,” Julio Ibarra, ’10, said. “In class we all picked someone until all the teachers were picked. I think it’s awesome to do something for the teachers like this because the teachers have done so much and taught me so much in the classroom and in life. It’s cool to something as a way of saying thanks.”
Parents also show their gratitude through PSN by creating gift baskets for all the teachers.
“We like to give back to the teachers and staff members during Christmas time,” Pam Lauber, PSN member, said. “Our funds for the gifts are all donations. We ask 15 parents from each grade to donate a certain amount of items to fill the baskets with. We start taking donations anywhere from now until the day we make them, December 12.”
“When we have the supplies, we’ll go in the Jackie Johnson room and start splitting up the items for the baskets,” Lauber said. “If anyone would like to help out they can just call me.”
For more information, call Lauber at (559) 906-0038.
