Students in Battle Ground Public Schools sort out items for the Winter Wishes week of giving.
Just before Battle Ground Public Schools district students and staff departed for winter break, the holiday spirit took hold. Along with decking the halls and the slate of holiday concerts and performances, teachers, staff and students celebrated the holidays with the spirit of giving.
Every December, Battle Ground Public Schools hosts a variety of activities and events to support and engage families and inspire students to focus on the community.
All schools in the district hosted food donation drives. Many teachers turned the drives into classroom challenges that collected thousands of pounds of food for the North County Community Food Bank in Battle Ground. As a separate event, students, parents, teachers and staff from the district volunteered their time for the Walk and Knock program.
Along with donating food, schools in the district also hosted a variety of Giving Trees and family adoption programs to help provide gifts to local families in need. One tree at Prairie High School is operated and fulfilled entirely by staff members.
“The Giving Tree program at Prairie is a wonderful tradition,” PHS school counselor Carol Davenport said in a news release. “Prairie’s staff is extremely generous, and many of the items that are requested are purchased in just a matter of days after the tree goes up.”
Davenport also said in the release that many of the donated items are necessities that others take for granted such as warm winter clothes. Along with Prairie, Battle Ground High School also hosted a Giving Tree program that was focused on providing Christmas gifts for children of all ages.
“It’s really cool to see high school kids come in excited to donate and help their community,” said Kevin Weeks, a business teacher and the staff coordinator of BGHS’ Giving Tree program. “We try to be cognizant of people’s situations, and I always tell our students that a little bit of giving goes a long way. It’s a phenomenal thing to see different factions of the community working together, being generous, and doing what they can to give back.”
