A+ for giving for Sutton Middle students from T&G Santa
SUTTON — For students at Sutton Middle School, raising $678 for the T&G Santa Fund meant more than earning a lunchtime Christmas song performance from their teachers — it meant ensuring kids in Central Massachusetts have gifts to open Christmas morning.
A yearly tradition that has been going on for nearly a decade, students at Sutton Middle School were challenged to beat the $450 they raised the previous year for the Santa Fund. And they did so easily.
“The kids are really excited about the fact that they absolutely smashed last year's or any previous years’,” said Casey Cummins, a social studies teacher and seventh grade student adviser. “We were happy to make that sizable donation to the Santa Fund.”
Each grade’s class officers take on a fundraising or community service effort every year, and for seventh graders, the T&G Santa is the largest, Cummins said.
T&G Santa: Merry Christmas from T&G Santa!
Now in its 84th year, the T&G Santa Fund and partner United Way of Central Massachusetts turn monetary donations into gifts for children to unwrap on Christmas morning.
Having inherited organizing and managing the Santa Fund from a previous teacher eight years ago, Cummins puts the collection process into the hands of his seventh grade class officers.
Class officers are typically elected to the role, but because of COVID-19 taking away opportunities from students in recent years, the 15 students who expressed interest this year were all made officers.
The position is meant to help them “get them ready to be in a leadership role in eighth grade, and hopefully in high school they continue to be involved in student government.”
He said that it is meant for students who are interested in student government but may not have the time commitment if they are involved in other activities or sports.
Lunchtime raffle held
This year’s class officers sold raffle tickets for $1 at lunchtime for two weeks, allowing their classmates, as well as the sixth-graders whom they share lunch period with, to come and buy a ticket. Eighth graders also had the opportunity to donate, taking a break in between classes to stop by Cummins' office and drop off the money.
The ticket gives them a chance to win a prize such as a gift, he said. And while most students would bring in a dollar to participate, others would bring in bigger bills to help achieve their goal.
Efforts to raise money had been made in the past, he said, through things like bake sales, but the promise of a lunchtime performance from their teachers, as well as a lot of excitement around making sure kids have a “special Christmas,” helped make the big push to beat previous years’ records.
“I think that certainly resonated with a lot of kids and I think they went home and … mentioned it and their parents encouraged them or gave them their money,” he said. “It was definitely a collective effort.”
Principal Anne Corron said she was proud of her students for their “generosity of spirit.”
“[It] never ceases to amaze me. They get so fired up about it at lunch and they get excited about donating and helping others in the local community,” she said.
Students also received praise from Superintendent Kimberly Roberts-Morandi, who said that it’s “an incredible source of pride” to see the impact of their students on the community.
“They took an idea, ran with it and made a difference for the community,” Roberts-Morandi said. “Their work is an inspiration and a challenge to the rest of us to continue to find ways to give back.”
He said that the experience was also rewarding for him, seeing students take it seriously and have a sense of responsibility, and that it makes him “feel good” to have a school community who understands “how important it is to help others” and be selfless.
“We don't do it to make ourselves feel good,” Cummins said. “But it certainly, at this time that's so crazy and so chaotic, and people can get really focused on what they have going on, it's really impressive to see young kids in a school community rally for something like this.”
Since 1938, the T&G Santa Fund has helped ensure community agencies and organizations are able to provide thousands of children presents to unwrap Christmas morning.
Sutton Middle School is among the 21 other groups acting as T&G Santa’s helpers this year.
The others include Canterbury Elementary School; Catholic Charities Worcester County and Southbridge; Centro Inc.; the state Department of Mental Health; Devereux Therapeutic Foster Care; Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health; Friendly House; Gardner CAC; The Guild of St. Agnes; Jeremiah’s Inn; Pernet Family Health Service; Rainbow Child Development Center; Salvation Army of Fitchburg, Greater Milford, and Worcester; Spanish American Center; Worcester Housing Authority; Webster Square Daycare Center; Winchendon CAC and Yes We Care.
The T&G Santa Fund recently surpassed $52,201 in donations. To donate, go to telegram.com/santa.
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This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Sutton Middle School students provide lesson in giving to T&G Santa
