GreekChat.com Forums - The best kids ever...

From "The Birmingham News"

Oak Mountain kids write own toy story
Spend $25,846 on Toys for Tots shopping trip
Friday, December 17, 2004
MARIE LEECH
News staff writer
Christi Gaskill could barely see over her shopping cart Thursday as she rode behind it on a bicycle made for a child a third her age.

The 13-year-old's cart was filled with stuffed animals, dolls, an Easy-Bake Oven and other toys. They weren't for her, but she was enjoying herself anyway.

"This is awesome! I love shopping. It's my hobby," Christi said, "and I think it's more fun shopping when it's not for you, because you get the joy of knowing you're going to make someone else happy."

Christi, an eighth-grader at Oak Mountain Middle School, was buying Christmas presents for needy children. The school set a national record this year by raising $25,846 for Toys for Tots.

Sixty-eight students crowded the toy and clothing aisles of the Brook Highland Wal-Mart Thursday to spend the money. Today, the Marine Corps, which sponsors Toys for Tots, will attend the school's Christmas assembly to pick up the toys.

The school's National Junior Honor Society sponsors the annual campaign, which has raised almost $90,000 over the last five years.

"I never imagined in my wildest dreams that they would raise this much," Principal Larry Haynes said. "This is the kind of lesson you live to see as an educator. This is something they will take to adulthood."

The 13- and 14-year-olds weren't getting a free day out of school. Calculators in hand, they had to stick to a budget.

"We're trying to buy less expensive stuff because we're trying to buy for more kids," said Katherine Haddock, 14. She and three friends were given a budget of $1,200. An hour into the shopping spree, they had spent just one-fourth of the money. Each item was carefully considered before it was placed in the cart, from Weebles to warm winter blankets.

Kerry Rush, an eighth-grade science teacher at Oak Mountain Middle and sponsor of the National Junior Honor Society, said she has started taking donations for next year's Toys for Tots campaign. "This is a very giving school."

Businesses also have been helpful. Moving company Changes in Latitude hauled the toys back to the school, Rush said. Wal-Mart also gave a 10 percent discount to the students and sold the items tax-free, adding almost $5,000 to the amount the students could spend, said Ida Williams, the store's front-end manager.

"I love it. Every year they come and shop with us," she said. "This year, they've gone above and beyond their goals. They're a great group of kids."

Marines asked students to focus on buying gifts for infants to 3-year-olds and for girls 9 and older, because that's what they needed the most.

Andres Aristizabal, 14, did just that. He had a pink bike, an Icee maker and two Barbie play sets in his cart. By 9:15 a.m., he had spent $107.57.

Students took about 4½ hours to spend the money, Rush said. Almost two truckloads of toys were delivered to the school.

"I think it's good to help kids who wouldn't have a Christmas otherwise," said 13-year-old Christine Orrison. "My Christmases have always been good, and I wanted to make sure others were, too."

I wanted you all to read this. It helps reinforce the idea that we are raising students who do care. For the record, this is the middle school I teach at in Birmingham and has about 1200 kids. They have been recognized as the school with the largest donation ever in the history of Toys for Tots.