As 9-year-old Krystal Edwards wrote in her newly opened journal, it was “the best Christmas party ever” at Forest View Elementary School on the morning of Dec. 17.
About 275 students walked into their classrooms after the first bell to find presents piled up on each of their desks, hand-picked for them by high school students from another part of the state… or by Santa, depending on who you ask.
What would otherwise have been a typical school day turned into a surprise gift-opening extravaganza and the type of memory that sticks for years. Especially if Christmas can’t always come to your house.
Michigan State University education senior Amanda Koziara, who has been spending time at Forest View for her TE 401 field placement, walked among the wrapping paper and wide grins, helping students revel in their Barbies, basketballs and two-way radios. She nominated the school for the charitable give-away arranged each year by students of her alma mater, Walled Lake Central High School.
This was the first time the group picked a school in the Lansing area.
“I have been excited, waiting for this day for two months,” said Koziara, whose younger sister, Melissa Fannon, happened to be chairing the Walled Lake Central program for 2010. Teaching where more than 80 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch prices, after growing up in a more privileged community, has been particularly eye-opening for Koziara.
“This, to them, is just huge. It has taught me to be more humble and down to earth.”
Not one child going without
Once they learned about the event, teachers at Forest View helped each student complete a holiday wish list including clothing sizes and hobbies. Students guessed something unusual was happening, but they didn’t know what to expect.
On the evening of Dec. 16, Fannon and a caravan of fellow Walled Lake Central students traveled to Lansing from Southeastern Michigan to deliver the presents to each classroom. Many of them drove back to the school again early Dec. 17 – the last school day before holiday break – to handle final details and witness the children’s delight.
“I know Santa doesn’t have a lot of money, but I know he made it,” Charity Reed said as she looked at her Little Petshop set and other goodies.
Koziara’s collaborating teacher Nyla Munk even added to the magic with a holiday brunch for her second- and third-grade students.
“This means that not one child will go without this year,” she said. “The abundance is coming and coming and I’m just … whoo-hoo!”
* Munk has been welcoming MSU teacher education students to her classroom for the past five years. This school year, Koziara is one of up to nine students observing and assisting with teaching in her classroom at different times throughout the week.
