Christmas has come early to eight children in need, thanks to the heroic efforts from 29 LT students. Students from the Social Awareness and Perspective-Taking Class at LT fundraised during class and solicited donations from teachers, classmates, friends, and family outside of class. In a span of only one week, the class raised about $1,000.

As a part of the Secret Santa program, students were assigned wish lists from the children they sponsored. After fundraising, the students worked together and personally shopped for each individual child. This was an integral part providing for the 170 kids LT sponsored total.

Allyson Voss, teacher of the Social Awareness and Perspective-Taking class, was very proud of the work from her students.

“I was especially impressed this year with the level of enthusiasm and effort our students displayed and I felt they should be recognized,” Voss said.

In addition to fundraising, the class was able to improve their communication skills and increase their effectiveness in their social interactions, she said.

Jack Becker ’19, saw the project as a huge benefit to him and his classmates.

“We were able to practice teamwork by working together to achieve a common goal,” Becker explained. Becker also felt a sense of pride in what his class had accomplished. “It made me feel proud to work as a group to do something nice for others.”

Students also saw the project as an opportunity to push themselves and grow as a student. Eric Larios ’19 highlighted his classmates’ perseverance.

“[We] pushed ourselves out of our comfort zones to sponsor [these] eight kids,” Larios said.  

When asked why it was important to help others, the answer was simple for Terry McDermott ’19.

“There are people in this world who are less fortunate than we are and they may not be able to afford the things they need. It’s just the right thing to do,” McDermott said.