Teachers and students are helping to spread holiday joy with the Small World Angel Tree Program which allows Redhawks to ‘adopt an angel’ through 2B class periods and collect gifts for their angel throughout November.
The decision to participate is based on the class’s willingness to do so, something that Humanities teachers Elizabeth Evans and Sarah Wiseman wanted students to participate in.
“We left it up to our class to vote because we always want to make sure that students are participating,” Wiseman said. “Both Mrs. Evans and I realized that it’s important to support families in our community that are struggling.”
Adopting an angel has been a tradition for Wiseman, having adopted one for the past ten years, but her favorite part of adopting an angel is buying them the less essential things that they wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise.
“My favorite part of adopting an angel is when you can get both [essential and nonessential] needs, buying the less glamorous things that the angel needs,” Wiseman said. “Because if a kid is struggling to have a warm coat or a mattress to sleep on, and you can get them like a Barbie with a Barbie convertible, you feel like that’s going to be just extra magical, especially for them.”
For AP Biology teacher Chris Ham, the holidays should be something that should be a time of joy, which is why he decided to adopt an angel.
“It’s to really just serve and give back to our community,” Ham said. “[The] holidays are something that we should all find joy in. It’s like a day or a month of celebration, and when someone isn’t able to celebrate because of financial needs, it can really be a demoralizing part [of the holidays]. We want everyone to have the spirit and the joy of the holidays, so adopting an angel allows us to sort of, you know, give back and let that happen.”
Adopting an angel was something junior Sheen Saxena wanted to do to give back to those who are less fortunate.
“I wanted to adopt an angel in order to give back to my community because I feel like it’s really important, especially around the holiday time,” Saxena said. “I think it’s super important to give back because there are people that are a lot less fortunate than we are, and we’re in a really good place to be able to give back to that community.”
Junior Gregory Matthews reflected on his childhood and wanted to make sure other children would experience the same holiday joy he did.
“So, when I was a kid, getting gifts during Christmas was like the highlight of the year,” Matthews said. “So if I was a kid and I didn’t get those gifts, I’d be missing like a big part of my childhood, [and] just childhood joy, so being able to provide that is a good thing to do.”
Giving back to the community and making someone’s year was something that junior Krish Pokle found joy in.
“Well, I wanted to adopt an angel because I thought it would be a fun thing to do as a class while also giving back to our community. [My favorite part was] definitely planning the gifts. Like, you know, trying to go as big as possible just to, like, make their year.”
While most classes opt for smaller, more manageable gifts, Ham’s class went big, chipping in to buy one of the largest items on their angel’s list: a queen-size mattress.
“I think that I saw [it] from his perspective, and I would really appreciate it if someone got [a mattress] for me as a gift because it’s a really expensive asset,” Saxena said. “And it’s something that his parents may not be able to provide for him. And I just thought it would be a great gesture.”
Adopting an angel was also an opportunity for the class to unite together for a good cause.
“[My] favorite part is just the class coming together on a unified goal that is not like the content of the class,” Ham said. “It was really nice for us to shop around, look for different things, and then just bring it all together. It’s just nice to see it all together [and] take a few photos. It’s like a fun little thing for us to do.”
Wiseman also emphasizes the importance of unity, finding that unity makes us all better people.
“I just think it’s important to give back because it shows kindness, caring, and compassion to our community, and we’re all better together than we are looking out for our own interests.”
