NAUGATUCK — Maple Hill Elementary School was filled with the spirit of giving last week.
Students, teachers and faculty came together Dec. 23, the last day before the winter vacation, to sing holiday songs, and even Santa Claus paid the students a visit. However, it was what the students were giving, rather than what they were getting, that made the event special to them.
Throughout the month of December students conducted the annual Maple Hill Toy Drive. The toy drive was started four years ago by first-grade teacher Jodie Burns.
The toy drive quickly caught on and soon became a school-wide event, Burns said.
“It’s been great. Everybody is just so kind and caring and giving,” Burns said. “For a lot of the kids it hits home for them that it’s about giving and not so much about themselves.”
This year toys were donated to the Naugatuck Fire Department, which collects toys for the Toys for Kids Foundation, and Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital’s Toy Closet Program.
“We have teachers whose children have been admitted to the hospital there, we have students who have been admitted to the hospital there. Every time they go they get to bring a toy home. So to kind of replenish their stock and say thank you to them for taking care of our kids we’re going to bring a couple of bags of toys to them as well,” said Burns of donating to Yale-New Haven
Principal Cheryl Kane said she was pleased with how the students came together to donate so many toys to two causes.
“This gives us a great sense of pride in our community and the joy of sharing and giving is what the holiday season is all about. Our children exemplify that type of spirit,” Kane said. “This is a very warm, caring community and I think it starts early on. I think these children will ultimately be good, productive citizens of Naugatuck and work hard and share with their community and give back at some point in their lives.”
