Matching the Christmas spirit, the school is practicing the act of giving in several ways. Last Monday, the Unity Club handed out positive notes to every student, the school donated to the Mckinney Vento “Fill the Plate” Project, and StuCo will give stuffed animals to kids at Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital this Saturday.
“Things like these really just give the school a chance to work together,” senior Reynah Johnson, a member of StuCo, said.
Stuco put signs around the school with information about the teddy bear drive. Then, according to Johnson, they focused on getting as many bears as possible. The drive ended last week with about forty stuffed animals collected.
“We decided to host the drive because we thought the kids would genuinely love the bears as gifts, like an early Christmas gift,” Johnson said.
NEISD participates in a drive called the Mckinney Vento Project in which food and hygiene products are collected for students who are classified as homeless. The softball team undertook the hygiene component while debate undertook the food component with Mrs. Sibley in charge.
“It’s a way to highlight the fact that maybe you shouldn’t take your life for granted,” Mrs Sibley said. “Just appreciate what you have.”
The Unity Club made it a goal for the last month and a half to send out a positive message to all 2,443 students. They met every Tuesday and Thursday to write all the cards, and decided to start kindness week by distributing them during second period.
“I certainly hope it [made] everyone, at least for a few seconds, have a smile on their face,” Mrs. Beres said. “We have heard a lot of kids say that it really did brighten their day and to me, if everyone feels like they’re wanted here and that they belong here, then it will be a happier place.”
