The Giving Tree
Festival of Lights Community Giving Tree
Returning for another year to the Festival of Lights event will be the huge Community Giving Tree in front of Village Square. On the tree there will be many paper mittens and stockings: teachers from the WHA School have written on each MITTEN items that are needed for their classrooms. Teachers buy many many things out of their own pocket to help with their classroom. Below are quotes from some of our local teachers:
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.
– Melanie Leger
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.
– Debbie Petersen
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!
– Cindy Larson
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!
– Deb Fisher
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!
– Courtney Carlson
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.
– Nancy Bruns
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.
– Kara Widman
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.
– Doris Hall
On each STOCKING you will be asked to donate a $10 gift card for a local senior citizen. The cost of filling one of the mitten/stocking wishes is less than $10.00! The mittens/stockings will be hung on the tree by Friday November 24th as part of the Festival of Lights; there will also be a candy cane on the tree as a thank you for everyone who takes a mitten/stocking! This is an easy way to help out many people in a small way and make the holidays a little brighter. There will be instructions on the back of each mitten/stocking detailing where and when to drop off the items. Thank you in advance for helping out with the Festival of Lights Community Giving Tree. Any questions call Leech Lake Area Chamber of Commerce at 547-1313.
