We wish you a late MERRY CHRISTMAS!
This year is my fourth year of teaching third grade at Barton Elementary School. Barton is located in Lake Worth, Florida, and is a Title I School. What is a Title I School? Basically, it is a school that receives additional funding to meet the needs of the low-income students. One example of where that funding goes to is to ensure my students get to eat. Most of my students receive free, or reduced-price of breakfast and lunch on a daily basis.
Every year since I have been teaching, my amazing Mom does a toy drive at her school. She teaches Algebra at King’s Academy in West Palm Beach. Her students and their parents are so gracious to donate gifts for my students annually. This is the pile of gifts for this past year, December 2011.
I am going to tell the story of Wednesday, December 21, 2011 through the eyes of one of my precious students, Ketshanee.
“This morning I just knew something exciting was going to happen! Mrs. Simke said we would be having some visitors and a holiday party, but there seemed to be more to it than that. I was so happy to see Mr. Simke come visit our classroom again! He played some Christmas music and we sang along."
“There we are, me and my classmates! I am the one in the far back, the fourth person from the right with white beads in my hair. Don’t we look super excited to get a present? Most of our parents can’t afford to get us a present. And trust me, I don’t think Christmas is all about presents. Mr. and Mrs. Simke were actually questioning why we don’t celebrate more of the Jewish feasts instead of the holidays of the Caesars…whatever that means. But, I think everyone would agree, this present giving was a beautiful moment to be a part of!”
“We all opened our presents at the exact same moment. Mrs. Simke’s mom counted, “1,2,…3!” Then we all tore open our packages!”
“Each boy received a sports ball. They received either a basketball, football, or soccer ball. Each girl received a board game. I got Clue Jr. I am going to play it tonight when I get home!”
“The last thing I want to say on behalf of my class, is THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Thank you to Mrs. Urso, her students, and their parents for their generosity! I hope you all had a MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
