Holiday season inspires Baltimore County
students to give and celebrate

Scotts Branch Elementary school students from the three classes that brought in the most cans during the canned food drive

The season of giving touched the hearts and imaginations of Baltimore County Public Schools staff and students. Following are just a sampling of the many ways that schools celebrated the winter holidays by reaching out to neighbors near and far.

Fifth District Elementary

Students from the “little school with the big heart” – Fifth District – have once again shown their capacity for caring. On Saturday, November 20, students held a “Walk and Roll” on the North Central Railroad Trail, raising more than $2,000 for Jacob A., a student who attends Fifth District for only an hour and a half each week.

Starting at the Monkton stop on the NCR Trail, students made donations to the Jacob A. Foundation and then walked or rolled on their bikes or wheelchairs for up to 20 miles. Many students brought not only donations from their families and friends, but their own savings as well. Some families even brought their dogs to join in this uplifting and highly successful event.

Winning 2nd place in the Scotts Branch Elementary canned food drive was Ms Hess' class with 349 cans

Jacob, who suffered a severe brain injury when he was very young, attends Fifth District so that he can interact with other young people and experience the school environment. Students at Fifth District were made aware of Jacob’s special needs by the school’s counselor, B.J. Gill, at the beginning of the year. With this knowledge, the students warmly welcomed Jacob.

In September, as Fifth District’s Student Government Association participants debated their 2005-2006 goals, one student put forth the idea of raising funds to assist with Jacob’s expensive medical care. This idea was immediately approved by the group, and the planning began.

An assembly was held on December 2 at Fifth District Elementary where the proceeds of the Walk and Roll were presented to Jacob’s family.

Ridgely Middle and Sandy Plains Elementary students pose with Santa at special holiday party

Jacksonsville Elementary

Every year since she’s been principal of Jacksonville Elementary, Deborah Glinowiecki has started the tradition of playing the song “Crabs for Christmas” on the last day of school. She even goes on the school’s Live News and sings it.

In December 2005, the school secretary contacted David Deboy, the songwriter/singer, and he agreed to come to Jacksonville on December 23 to perform the song on Live News.

Kingsville Elementary

A huge red HOODIE hung in Kingsville’s lobby “set the stage” for the two-week sweatshirt drive.

In more ways than one – students at Kingsville Elementary School sent the warmth of the holiday season to students at Pineville Elementary School in Pass Christian, Mississippi. These students lost most of their possessions during last year’s Hurricane Katrina. Kingsville has “adopted” Pineville and recently held a two week HOODIES FOR THE HOLIDAYS sweatshirt drive for the students at that school.

After discussing student needs with the administration at Pineville, Kingsville principal Susan Felts and the School Improvement Team decided on a hooded sweatshirt drive for the school and community. Students, parents, faculty, and staff brought in more than 200 new hooded sweatshirts for Pineville students. They were encouraged to write notes to the recipients, which were placed in the hoods of the shirts. In addition, donors added a personalized HOODIE to the clothesline in Kingsville’s lobby to create a visual display of the donations.

The sweatshirts are being shipped to Pineville thanks to the generosity of Gary Daniel and The Davidson Transfer and Storage Company of Baltimore.

In addition, rather than exchanging gifts among the faculty, Kingsville teachers used their gift money to make a donation to Pineville, to be used for purchasing textbooks.

Kingsville teachers Lynne Glennon and Meghan Daniel read some of the notes written by Kingsville students (which were tucked in the hoods of the donated sweatshirts).

Ridge Ruxton

On December 13, the Ridge Ruxton School student signers performed holiday songs through sign language interpretation at White Marsh Mall.

Ridgely Middle School & Sandy Plains Elementary

The holiday season got off to a happy start for the students of Sandy Plains Elementary School and Ridgely Middle School’s Student Government Association. Twenty-seven kindergarten and first graders from Sandy Plains were “adopted” by groups of Ridgely’s sixth through eighth graders. Each group of Ridgely students received some information about their assigned Sandy Plains student (e.g., gender, age, clothing sizes, interests, and wish lists). The groups had about a week to shop before they would present their gifts to the students at a holiday party.

To display the donations, a clothesline was hung in Kingsville’s lobby and colorful paper HOODIES showcased the generosity of students, parents, and faculty.

At the party, the children made crafts (created by Ridgely’s Art Department), listened to stories (read by one of a language arts teacher), saw a clown, got their faces painted, ate snacks, and visited with Santa (who looked remarkably similar to a sixth grade world cultures teacher). Toward the end of the party, the Sandy Plains students opened their gifts from their Ridgely friends, and everyone went home with a bundle of goodies.

The best part of the story involves transportation. The Harris Bus Company was given the charge of picking up the students from Sandy Plains. On the way to the party, the teachers from Sandy Plains told the bus driver why they were visiting Ridgely. Upon their arrival, the driver called the supervisors at Harris Bus Company, and they agreed that they were NOT going to charge Ridgely’s Student Government Association for their services. If that isn’t the spirit of the season, what is?!

Four 3rd graders cheerfully add their donations of HOODIES to Kingsville’s large collection.

Scotts Branch Elementary

At Scotts Branch Elementary School in Northwest Baltimore County, students collected 3,568 canned food items for the Maryland Food Bank. Students were aware that bringing in cans could win prizes for their classes, and they caught the spirit of competition, wanting to bring in the most, but their primary motivation was to do something to help those suffering from hunger.

“Our school really believes in helping others,” said Principal Joyce Schultz. “To motivate and educate our school community, we had daily reminders broadcast by students on our Eagle News television show. Students even made commercials to get the point across about hunger and the need to collect.”

Each teacher displayed on classroom door charts showing how many cans his or her class had collected. A much larger real graph in the school hallway featured photographs of the teachers and mini-cans to represent the number each class had collected. This allowed all students to know how many cans the whole school had collected each week. The canned food drive was from Oct. 11 to Nov. 11.

“For prizes,” Ms. Shultz explained,” the class that collected the most cans was promised a pizza party. In addition any class that brought in 100 cans would receive ice cream treats. The end result is that, out of 25 classes, 19 will receive ice cream treats. [These classes are taught by Ms. Sendroff, Ms. Johnson, Ms. Gravel, Ms. Clark, Ms. Bardoff, Ms. Hoerl, Ms. Schiefer, Ms. Smith, Ms.Hawkins, Ms. Taylor, Ms. DeGuzman, Ms. Grape, Ms. Cermatori, Ms. Ward, Ms. Wiswall, Ms. Kelly, Ms. Moskow, and Ms. Fontinell.] Our top class was Ms. Bowser’s, which brought in 368 canned food items, and close behind was Ms. Hess’s class with 349. They both will be getting a pizza party.”

Ridge Ruxton student signers performing at White Marsh Mall

Sparks Elementary

The Student Council at Sparks Elementary organized a very successful Fall Outreach Program. Thanks to the generous students and families at Sparks, the school was able to provide assistance to many people in need of a helping hand. The school raised $2,356.86 for Katrina relief, 260 pounds of candy for a mission, and 779 items plus $31.00 worth of meat products for the Hereford Food Bank.

Sparrows Point Middle

Generosity is defined as “giving liberally or in abundance.” If that is the case, then the students and staff at Sparrows Point Middle School and the community surrounding the school, exemplify generosity. Over the past school year, the school community contributed to more than 10 charities including Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, a breast cancer walk/run, cancer bowl-a-thon, and a canned food collection for the homeless.

“The students and staff at Sparrows Point Middle School seem to always be seeking ways to help others,” said Principal John Foley.

Socio-economically, Sparrows Point is not one of the wealthiest school districts. Statistically speaking, more than 30% of the total student body receives free and reduced lunch. However, that does not deter people within this community from giving.

Since September, the students, faculty and staff have participated in more than four charitable events. With the canned food drive, the students amazingly donated more than 2,400 cans of food in one week. Sparrows Point Middle has a little more than 500 students, which means, on average, each student donated at least four cans. Moreover, three homerooms combined were responsible for donating more than 1,000 cans toward the total.

To raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, students collected money during one week of lunch shifts. More than $600 was raised for the American Red Cross.

While often the less fortunate are forgotten, the Sparrows Point Middle School community never forgets. Indeed, the community has a year-round commitment to assist those in need.

“The consistent generous spirit of this community is truly amazing, especially the students, who are often the first to initiate efforts to help those in need,” exclaimed Foley.

Ridge Ruxton student signers performing at White Marsh Mall

Timber Grove Elementary

Since October, Timber Grove Elementary School and its PTA have been collecting supplies for Martin Bluff Elementary School in Gautier, Mississippi. Everything in their building was ruined by Hurricane Katrina.

Timber Grove responded first by donating school supplies and books. Then Timber Grove teachers learned that Martin Bluff had another need. The school day at Martin Bluff has been extended to make up for lost days, and at the end of the day, the children are tired and hungry. Timber Grove teachers have donated large supplies of animal crackers, pretzels, and cheese snacks for Martin Bluff teachers to share with their students.

Victory Villa Elementary

The students and staff of Victory Villa Elementary reached out to soldiers through their Stockings for Soldiers Campaign. By participating, students and their families learned a valuable lesson in giving – one that goes far beyond the lessons offered in textbooks. Their hope is that through their efforts they contributed to a better holiday season for soldiers who are away from their loved ones.

The inspiration for the operation came from Mrs. Vanskiver, a classroom teacher, and Mrs. Weeks, the school nurse. It started as a gesture to do something small to make the holidays merrier for the men and women in the service. Then it snowballed into a full blown campaign.

“The generosity of these families always amazes me with every fundraiser we have,” stated Mrs. Weeks. “I feel very, very blessed that our troops are still so much in everyone’s hearts and prayers.” Mrs. Weeks’ son, Cpl. Donald Weeks III, is serving his second tour of duty in Iraq and expects to return for a third tour of duty. “The people in our school community involved in this campaign have come up with such great ideas. I just feel so grateful for all their hard work and the gifts of time, money, and donations. I would love to be there in Iraq to see the faces of the soldiers when they get all of these gifts.”

Mrs. Hoffmaster, a teacher at the school, was very excited and moved when she heard of the gracious donations. “Students bring in money every morning for the soldiers. They give their leftover lunch money and their savings. Every year the staff members participate in a cookie exchange. This year we will bring in those cookies and package them for the soldiers.”

In addition to the collected donations, students made decorations and wrote letters to the soldiers. “We are determined to give these soldiers a happy holiday,” stated Mrs. Nye-Paugh. “When the soldiers open the boxes, we want their world to be transformed. We want them to feel as though in that instant they are home. We want them to forget they are at war and experience all of the joy and traditions associated with the holiday season.”

Ridge Ruxton student signers performing at White Marsh Mall

The school collected over $1,000 in donations from students, staff, and community businesses. These donations are in the form of phone cards, packaging materials, nonperishable goods, reading materials, personal items, and monies for shipping. Janet Newman, a kindergarten classroom helper and volunteer, has been on the frontline, collecting donations from local business totaling more than $500. After school on Friday, November 18th, the school’s families and staff donates their time to stuff stockings and package the donated items for shipment that weekend.

Mrs. East, the school principal, further expressed her pride in the school’s care for soliders. “Victory Villa Elementary School continues to demonstrate support of people in need, whether it be the victims of September 11, tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, or life-threatening diseases. I am proud that our school community has rallied to support our military troops through this Stocking for Soldiers Campaign. Hopefully, the men and women who are serving to defend our country will receive some joy and love that accompanies each stocking. In addition, I feel certain that we will all enjoy our holiday a little more knowing we made a small difference in the lives of some soldiers, at a time when it is difficult for them to be away from home.”

Story by: Ellen Breidenbaugh, good news ambassador, Fifth District Elementary; Amy DeNike, good news ambassador, Kingsville Elementary; Frances G. Duffy, Ridge Ruxton School; Melissa M. Fanshaw, assistant principal, Sparks Elementary; Susan H. Felts, principal, Kingsville Elementary; Deborah Glinowiecki, principal, Jacksonville Elementary; Patrice Manning-Walker, Physical Education Teacher, Scotts Branch Elementary School; Carol Quental, principal, Fifth District Elementary; Dawn E. Rutter-Hoffmaster, vocal music teacher and good news ambassador, Victory Villa Elementary; Janet M. Silverman, administrative secretary, Timber Grove Elementary; Nicole Yoder, good news ambassador, Sparrows Point Middle. Edited by Diana L. Spencer, communications officer