St. Joe’s students spread Christmas cheer to seniors

Taylor Weaver Meridian Source

 

Students in Ashlee Foster’s Grade 7 class at St. Joseph Elementary School were in the Christmas spirit this week as they prepared holiday greeting cards for area seniors.

With the overall goal of putting smiles on the faces of seniors, Foster explained this is the fourth year her class has made cards, and it won’t be the last.

“My class decided they wanted to do something nice for seniors, especially those in seniors’ homes that might not be able to see their families as much this Christmas, or they might be in different cities, so we thought we’d put a smile on seniors’ faces by making them Christmas cards,” she said.

“On Monday, our class also went to a different seniors’ home and sang and played our instruments for them. It’s nice to remember that seniors are an important part of our community.”

One of Foster’s students, Lerisa Mack, explained she had a lot of fun making cards for seniors, and felt great making others happy.

“The message I’m putting in the cards is ‘Have a happy new year, we’re wishing you the best and we’re praying for you.”

Lerisa’s classmate, Reeve Hunt, is also wishing seniors a Merry Christmas in his cards and noted the importance of giving and receiving cards.

“When I give a card, it feels nice because it’s nice to know that you put your hard work into the card, and someone else can enjoy that. That’s nice to know, and it feels good,” said Reeve. 

“Bringing joy to the seniors is important because they’re nice people and they’ve lived a long time. It feels nice to make people feel good.”

For Foster, another important element to spreading Christmas joy is keeping the true meaning of Christmas in the minds of students.

“It’s the most important for me to be a part of a Catholic community at Christmas,” she said. 

“I thank God every day for teaching in this school division and being able to talk about God, Jesus and what the real meaning of Christmas is. 

“We actually did Santa letters in our class and we wrote three things. We wrote something that you wanted, something you were thankful for, and the real meaning of Christmas, so it’s nice to remember the true meaning of Christmas, and being in a Catholic school, I can talk about that, no problem.”

Foster explained her class also recently “adopted” a local senior through a new Lloydminster Learning Council program.

“We’re also doing a pen pal program, organized by the Lloydminster Learning Council, so we actually ‘adopted’ a senior to write letters to,” she said. 

“We’ve sung for seniors, we’re writing letters to one, and now we’re making Christmas cards for seniors.”

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Taylor Weaver
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