The Giving Tree helps WHA Teachers and Students
Giving Tree
Every year the Leech Lake Chamber of Commerce puts up a giving tree. It truly takes a community, with a little help from the Forest Service, WHA Interact Group, and Gary Bilben this tree has always stood tall and proud.
This year we changed things up a little, we decided to spread our giving trees around the town. This year the chamber helped to sponsor trees in front of the Traveling Art Pub, Piggy’s BBQ and in Super One grocery store.
On the mittens are wishes from the WHA teachers. WHA teachers have so many wonderful ideas and not always enough funds to make them happen.
All donations may be wrapped and delivered to the chamber office where the Interact students will deliver to the teachers’ classrooms.
Below are some of WHA teacher’s testimonies:
Last year I asked for colored beads to string on pipe cleaners to assist students in mastering place value concepts and number combination that equal 10 or 20. My mitten tree donor went above and beyond and gave us a huge set of beads. The students loved stringing their own personal number line and using it for computation. It was a great way to take their knowledge from a concrete level to an abstract level. The mitten tree made a difference.
I always ask for materials and supplies for student projects. It’s important for students to work with the topic content and create something meaningful with their hands.
I have received iTunes cards to install apps in the past. The students I work with are very excited about the program apps. These apps support social skills training and academic reinforcement for students who have a variety of different needs and learning styles. Thank you for your support!
The gift of dry erase markers allows me to give every student their own marker to use with their personal whiteboards. We use them daily to practice math problems together!
I have received Christmas CD’s that my music students and I use during the Christmas season. It’s a great donation because students get to hear many different genres and musicians from all kinds of eras. They recognize the song and love to sing along when they can! I have also received Kleenex boxes, which is self-explanatory for its use, but it’s also an inexpensive gift for donors!
I have joyfully received three boxes of Kleenex the last few years from the Giving Tree. During the cold and flu season, over one hundred and twenty-five seventh and eighth graders appreciate and benefit from this gift. A box of Kleenex may not seem a great gift to some, but to a red-nosed sniffling seventh grader a soft tissue just might make their day.
Receiving math games, markers for making charts and extra classroom supplies has been an encouragement to our students. They see firsthand how the community cares about their learning.
The Giving Tree helped my students keep warm when they did not have hats or mittens to go outdoors. The donation of winter wear was great to have available when the need occurred.
