Students from Valley Middle School in House Springs participated in its annual “Merry for Charity” event on Dec. 19, a morning dedicated to creating, crafting, baking and giving back to others during the holiday season.
Lighthouse facilitator Nicole Crull, 42, of House Springs said the “Merry for Charity” event was started in 2019 to allow our students to give back to others within the community.
“Valley Middle School was in the Leader in Me Lighthouse certification process, and we wanted to find a way for our students to have a service-learning opportunity. A school counselor and her team of teachers came up with the idea. Since then, it has grown and evolved into a joint student and staff partnership of planning and organizing a leadership event,” Crull said.
Organized by the school’s Lighthouse student group and the Lighthouse teacher organization, students made capes for children who are hospitalized and in foster care, ornaments, wash rag teddy bears, holiday decorations and placemats for nursing home and hospice patients, fleece blankets for people who are unhoused and for shelter animals, and baked cookies for first responders.
The morning also featured a canned food drive to benefit Second Hand Heroes, which was the organization to receive all the projects to then disperse as donations across Jefferson County. First responders also stopped by on the day of the event and received their donation of baked goods.
“Advisory teachers, along with their students, voted on their class’s activity. Student Lighthouse members helped assist advisory classrooms with their activities. Some students form volleyball teams to compete and donate the money raised to the charity of their choice,” Crull said.
The Merry for Charity Staff Action Team and Student Lighthouse group began planning for this event at the beginning of the year. Crull said the Student Lighthouse classes prepared examples of projects and kits with supplies for advisory classes and practiced leading the activities in the advisory classes.
When students arrived at school, they went to their advisory class to start their activity. Student Lighthouse members joined advisory classes to assist with projects. During this time, volleyball teams reported to the gym to compete for their charity. The Stu Crew (Student Council) students later led a holiday pep assembly for the whole school. Before an early dismissal, advisory classes then turned in their completed projects to be picked up by Second Hand Heroes.
Max Green, an eighth-grade student from House Springs, said giving is crucial this time of year.
“It is important to give back to our community and those who don’t have much around this time of year,” Green said. “We want everyone to have a good holiday.”
Valley Middle School Principal Spencer Storey, 44, of House Springs said the event benefits those in the community, but it also teaches students that they can leave a lasting impact on others.
“It is important to have our students give back to the community that they live in and get the special feeling of knowing that they made a difference,” Storey said.