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Show Paget OREM TIMES Thursday, December 14, 2006 (QM1K NEWS AND IDEAS V: Vi-t. i f. 10 MARC HADDOCKNorth County Cousins Angie Arnoldsen fef j and Emiy ArnoWscn are ready to se some Christmas presents at Santa's Workshop at Cascade Elementary Students get holiday shopping done at school Melissa Mayntz IH OXNf l The holiday season would not be the same without bustling bus-tling malls, overflowing shopping shop-ping bags and the challenge of finding the perfect gift for that special someone. F or the second year, the students of Cascade Elementary had the opportunity to experience holiday holi-day shopping safely and easily, finding just the right gifts for friends and family members without overstepping their budgets at the school's Santa's Secret Shop. ( irganized by April Zushi, last year's PTA president and this year's legislative vice president on the FTA board, the shop was open Dec. 4-8 to let students purchase a range of sentimental and novelty gifts. The more than 100 items available included novelty pencils, pen sets, small tool sets, figurines, plush stuffed animals, baby socks, Disney figurines, mugs and more. Many items are personalized Festival of Trees entries becoming a tradition for Hillcrest Elementary students Melissa Mayntz JI'tM COUNT STAFF A Christmas tree Ls more than just a family tradition, it is a way to honor people you care about, express hope and joy for the holiday season and help those less fortunate. More than 150 Hillcrest Elementary students learned all three of those lessons this year as they prepared trees to donate to the annual Festival of Trees benefiting Primary Children's Medical Center. Coordinated by fifth grade teacher Cheryl Skinner, decorating deco-rating trees is a Hillcrest Elementary El-ementary annual tradition, and this year the school donated three trees to join the more than 700 displayed during the festival. The fifth grade classes worked together to create their reindeer-themed tree, "Leading the Way," with dozens doz-ens of different hand-crafted reindeer ornaments. Students created the ornaments out of a wide assortment of materials, including wooden hearts, pop-side pop-side sticks, clothespins, peanut butter cups, outdoor holiday light bulbs, glass balls and miniature min-iature clay pots. iT 1- i"l!iahrmnlvlttarwlliu'L'iv3wiUTfim" f I 42lfewMifc I 1 ir I OWMKIU I 1 MUU FROM CLASSROOMS AND EDUCATORS for different family members, including mom, dad, grandma and grandpa, making them ideal holiday gifts. According to Zushi, one of the most popular items this year was a large, diamond-shaped diamond-shaped paperweight engraved with "Mom" or "Grandma." "It's surprising what people buy," she said. "We had to order (the paperweights) three times." While students enjoy the chance to buy surprises for people on their gift list, Zushi said the shop also helps students learn about social situations they will encounter throughout their lives. "Our purpose is for the kids to have the experience shopping shop-ping in a safe, controlled environment," envi-ronment," Zushi said. In the weeks before the shop opens, the PTA sends envelopes enve-lopes and small banks home with students along with notes for parents encouraging them to let students do extra chores to earn money to buy gifts. When students visit the shop in "I was surprised at how many different things we could think of to make the reindeer out of," Skinner said. Students were working on ornaments since early November, Novem-ber, and Skinner and other volunteers took more than six hours to use them to decorate the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. The school's principal, Darrin Johnson, and the librarian, Dee Dee Gardner, along with several other adults also helped create ornaments and assist students who struggled strug-gled to finish their designs. While the students enjoy the hands-on arts and crafts to create the ornaments, Skinner emphasizes the purpose behind their project: that even one person per-son can make an effort to help another. "I want the kids to know that they can make a difference," she said. "If they start now, then they'll grow up serving." The fifth grade classes were not the only students to work on a tree. Nearly 100 4-H students stu-dents helped create a second tree, titled "A Homespun Christmas." The third tree donated by Hillcrest Elementary was put together by the school's fac- Light Her Fire. ' ' 1 20 No. University Provo 375-5220 ww goldsmith jewelerscom ' j? sflJ liii 1 X i .... vv:- the school's library, Zushi said she can see they've learned to value the money they've earned themselves, and many students budget purchasing gifts for different people. "They get the satisfaction of being able to shop with money they have earned," she said. With items priced from 10 cents to $15, the shop is affordable afford-able and convenient for every student. To facilitate the shopping, student council members serve as personal shoppers and help students choose what they would like to buy from the display tables while keeping the event organized. Zushi estimates es-timates that more than 50 students stu-dents visit the shop during the two hours each day it is open. Zushi's biggest challenge organizing the shop is getting enough volunteers to keep it running smoothly because many adults are busy with other commitments this time of year. During the week the shop was open, nearly a dozen PTA "By little things, great things are accomplished," Cheryl Skinner Hillcrest Elementary fifth-grade teacher ulty and staff as a tribute to a recess aide who passed away -during the summer. Titled "4 the Love of the Game," the tree was themed with different sports and recess re-cess activities. All together, the school's three trees sold for more than $375, and all of the Festival's proceeds are donated to Primary Children's Medical Center. When Skinner tells the students how much their tree earned, she emphasizes that the money goes to help children chil-dren their age. "It was exciting to come back after I found out and tell them they'd earned almost $400 for Primary Children's," Skinner said. It takes Skinner an entire year to plan the next year's tree, and she said she starts DO IT YOURSELF Experience A New Way To Shop. Cook, Freeze, Wash I Dry Before You Buy. tho MAYTAG store. PARTS - SALES - SERVICE and parent volunteers helped man it and a PTA member served as the cashier. Zushi admits that the shop is not a big fundraiser for the PTA because the purpose is to help students buy gifts rather than raise money to support the school. The PTA is free to mark up items as much as they choose, and while some items are marked as high as 20 percent above the initial cost, many items are not marked up at all in order to keep the shop affordable af-fordable for students. This year the shop raised $565 for the PTA, which will go to support teacher grants for classroom materials. In the past, teacher grants have paid for computer software, digital cameras, playground equipment equip-ment and other materials to benefit all students. Despite the challenges, Zushi said she enjoys coordinating the shop because of how directly direct-ly it benefits the students. "I'm happy to do it again because be-cause the kids love it," she said. getting ideas for themes and color combinations as she attends at-tends the festival each year. During the year, especially after af-ter the holidays, she looks for bargains on decorating supplies sup-plies and materials that could be used for future trees, which helps keep the cost of each tree minimal. Skinner purchases the trees the students will decorate deco-rate herself. Skinner's biggest challenge is just keeping the students focused on the task and coordinating co-ordinating so many children to work together to meet the festival's deadline. The best part of the project, however, is seeing the students' excitement as their tree becomes part of the festival. "The greatest thing is them seeing the finished project," she said. "It's pretty neat for them to see that they're in the middle of a huge thing, that they're part of it." Giving students different opportunities to show how easy it is to contribute, Skinner said, helps them realize that no matter what they can do, they can help others if they work together. "By little things, great things are accomplished," she said. r - Ml 111 il - - - ALL SCHOOLS Winter break Winter break for all Alpine District public schools will be Dec. 21 through Jan. 1. School will resume on Jaa 2. CASCADE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL I Winter ClothingLost and Found Parents are reminded re-minded that students should be dressed warmly because classes try to go outside as much as possible even during dur-ing cold weather. The lost-and-found box is very full of coats, hats, gloves and other warm clothes, and parents should check for any missing items regularly. I Reading Contest Friday is the last day of Cascade Elementary's Twelve Days of Reading program. Reading Read-ing logs must be turned in no later than Monday, and the class with the most at-home reading minutes will win a party in the Media Center. I Reflections Awards The Reflections Awards assembly will be Monday. Call 227-8707 for details. I Holiday Events Cascade Elementary students will celebrate the season with holiday parties and a student sing-along on Tuesday. The orchestra will also present a holiday concert at 4 p.m. Tuesday. I School newsletter deadline dead-line All newsletter submissions sub-missions are due to Katie Geary by Wednesday to be considered for the January newsletter. FOOTHILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL I Christmas Sing There will be a Christmas Sing for all parents on Wednesday at 9:10 a.m. Call 227-2465 for more information. I Fall Festival items unclaimed un-claimed The Foothill Elementary El-ementary cafeteria still has a few ladles and one cookie sheet left over from the Fall Festival. Parents are urged to claim missing items as soon as possible. HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL I School newsletter submissions submis-sions due Submissions for the January edition of the Hillcrest Hawks newsletter are due to Becky Kreis by Wednesday. At Courtesy Cheryl Skinner A reindeer-themed Christmas tree, including hand-made ornaments, made by Hillcrest Elementary School students was one of three of the school's entries to the Festival of Trees to benefit Primary Children's Medical Center. WAMTB WATER, WELL RIGHTS & IRRIGATION. Call Ross at 642-0119 SCERAPARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL I Concert The Scera Park Singers will present a concert at 630 p.m. today. Call 227-8730 227-8730 for more information. I "The Nutcracker" performance perfor-mance All students will celebrate the holiday spirit with a Utah Ballet assembly presentation of "The Nutcracker" Nut-cracker" Friday at 10:45 a.m. Parents should contact their child's teacher for more information. infor-mation. I Holiday Sing-In There will be a school holiday sing-in sing-in on Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. Contact the Main Office for details. SHARON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL I First-grade program Sharon Elementary first grade students will present a program for parents today at 7 p.m. Parents can contact their child's first grade teacher teach-er for more information. I After school clubs note Parents, please note that there will be no after school clubs Dec. 18-20. CANYON VIEW JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL I Choral Concert There will be a choral concert today at 6:30 p.m. Call the Main Office Of-fice for further informatioa I Community Council Meeting Meet-ing The Canyon View Junior Ju-nior High school community council will meet Tuesday at 2:45 p.m. Call 227-8748 for details. OREM HIGH SCHOOL I Senior Ball The Senior Ball will be Saturday from 8-11 8-11 p.m. Pictures will be available avail-able from 6-8 p.m. Tickets are $9 before the dance or $12 at the door. I Holiday Concert Parents are invited to the OHS Holiday Holi-day Concert on Tuesday at . 7:30 p.m. Call the Main Office for more information. NOAH WEBSTER ACADEMY I Music and Gift Wrapping at Borders Books Noah Webster Academy will provide pro-vide gift wrapping service and musical performances at Borders bookstore Friday' and Saturday. Call 426-6624 for details. i iT.rMTirr.s i T k POOR |