Skaneateles kids give the gift of Christmas

When students and staff at State Street Elementary School decorated miniature Christmas trees this season, they didn’t know whose lives they might brighten. But they did know that it was fun to come up with a theme for the tree decorations, and that when all 21 two-foot trees were displayed together they were a beautiful and fun sight to see.
After everyone had a chance to view the display, the trees were delivered to individuals and to groups whose holidays could be brightened by such a gift. Most students and staff had no idea exactly where their creative trees ended up.
Students in Tami Rigling’s third grade class received a surprise in the mail about their tree, which they created with the theme of snowflakes.
An elderly couple sent a card that said "We know a lot about the best things in life because we have one of them --- We have you as a friend," said Rigling. On the inside of the card, a hand written note said "Thank you so much for the beautiful Christmas tree. We are both 90 years old and appreciate gifts. God Bless You. - Mr. and Mrs. Robert Howell.”
The students were thrilled, said Rigling. “The students were very excited to hear back from the family and quite proud to be doing something so nice. In fact we are going to be sending them a surprise batch of Christmas cards today,” she said.
The snowflake tree included snowflakes in blue and white. “On each snowflake, the students wrote a holiday message,” said Rigling. Examples include: "We wish you a Merry Christmas" "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" and “We hope your dreams come true."
Other themes, or mini decorations, included candy, buttons, cookie cutters, and mini student-decorated globe ornaments. Special area teachers also participated with creative trees. The gym teachers, for example, used key chains with all different kinds of athletic balls attached to make a sports themed tree.
The idea for the tree display and gift giving came from teacher Heather Buff, who remembered how much her husband’s grandmother appreciated a small tree they gave her as a gift. “I also was remembering how much I enjoyed the Festival of Trees at the Everson Museum where different people and groups would decorate Christmas trees in a variety of themes,” Buff said. “It was always such fun to see all the different trees.”
She wrote a note to staff about the idea.
“Any classroom, group or individual can sign up for a tree and decorate it in any theme they would like... I’ve seen trees decorated in all one color, with a sports theme, with an office supply theme; with a musical theme, a snowman tree, an origami tree, an ‘orange’ tree... the possibilities are truly endless. The best part as far as I can see is that each child in a class can make an ornament to decorate their tree... and it won’t have to cost a lot of money, if any at all! To me, it seems like an easy way for us to give some holiday cheer to the seniors of our own community... a tree decorated with love by children... a gift for sure.”
Students and staff liked her idea, and the rest is history. With very little money, some creativity and lots of effort, the trees brought joy.

CATEGORY: General Education
TAGS: christmas, skaneateles, trees, miniature, creativity
EDITION: Skaneateles Press

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