Rebecca Linnemeier, left, will be the Wawasee school board president in 2015 and Rob Fisher will be the vice president. Not pictured is Mike Wilson, secretary.
Christmas can be a festive, fun and memorable time for some as they gather with family or friends. But for others, it can be a discouraging, depressing and even painful time.
During Tuesday evening’s regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board in Syracuse, the first meeting of 2015, the board heard reports about what each of the schools in the corporation did to make the Christmas season brighter for many families in need.
Each school showed ample evidence the Christmas spirit was still alive in some way. Syracuse Elementary School was able to help 41 families and impact more than 100 children. In addition, students and their families chose items from a giving tree in the school lobby, purchased the items and then brought them to school to be given to others.
At Wawasee High School, the Key Club raised more than $2,000 through a school wide penny pitch project and the money went to local families in need. Student facilitators adopted families in need and provided them with clothing, blankets, pillows and other items. And the Warrior Leadership Committee completed projects such as a Toys for Tots drive and adopted families in need.
Milford School had a food drive and donated the food to the Milford Food Pantry. The student council sponsored a penny pitch and donated funds to Riley Children’s Hospital and had a Santa hat day where hats could be worn for a $1 donation and the funds were also given to Riley. Students in the fifth and sixth grades participated in Operation Christmas Child and made 28 shoeboxes, while fourth grade students made snack bags and sold them for $1 and donated the funds to Heifer International.
Wawasee Middle School students pitched in to help families in need and Susan Mishler, principal, noted she wants to focus on the emotional needs of students this time of the year. North Webster Elementary participated in a food drive with the North Webster Church of God and the church also hosted a giving tree. Fourth grade students raised more than $900 to support the North Webster Food Pantry and local families and Christie Holst, student services coordinator for the school, said a total of 256 kids were able to have Christmas.
Each school was assisted by individuals, churches and businesses.
For the first time, school bus drivers for the Wawasee corporation organized a child caring tree placed at the North Webster American Legion. Tags were placed on the tree that were numbered and labeled with gender and grade level of a child in the Wawasee district. The tree was decorated with the Wawasee colors of green and gold and within 17 days, all 82 tags were gone.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, it was the annual board reorganization. Officers for 2015 will be Rebecca Linnemeier, president, Rob Fisher, vice president, and Mike Wilson, secretary. Tabatha Reber is the recording secretary and James Flecker the board attorney. Meetings will continue to be held at 5:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month in the Warrior Room at the high school with the exception of April, when the meeting will be the third Tuesday.
Board members will get paid $2,000 per year, $55 per meeting with a cap of no more than $4,000 yearly.