BAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 14, 2018
KeizerCommunity
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Weddle students get into giving spirit
By MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
While many of their peers
are busy making their wish list
for Santa, the students in the life
skills special education class at
Weddle Elementary have been
working on something a little
bit different.
On Monday morning, each
of the life skills kids went
around the school delivering
special holiday coffee mugs as
presents for the staff. Each mug
came with a peppermint candy
cane and a special note.
Stephanie Martin, who has
been substitute teaching in
the classroom since the begin-
ning of the school year, was the
main organizer for the project.
Martin is fi lling in for Michelle
Merritt, who is currently on
maternity leave.
“December can be kind of a
stressful time for these kids, so
one of the things that can help
with the angst is to start think-
ing about other people,” Martin
said. “I think it’s a big help for
kids to practice the idea of giv-
ing away.”
Many of the students were
a little bit scared to have an
interaction with an adult that
they weren’t familiar with. But
that fear melted away when
they were greeted with a warm
smile and a hug.
“The look on the kids faces
after giving their gift is price-
less,” Martin said. “Each child
responds a little bit differently,
but you can tell by their en-
gagement that they are totally
into this. It’s something that
they have become really excit-
ed about.”
Before transitioning into a
role as a sub, Martin worked
as a librarian at several differ-
ent schools throughout the Sa-
lem-Keizer area for more than
two decades. But she fi rst got
the idea to do this with the life
skills classroom when she was a
substitute at Houck in 2015.
“I just wanted to tailor an
KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings
TOB LEFT: Derhyan (second grade) gives a mug to 4th grade teacher Anna Johnson. TOB RIGHT: Audrey (second grade) gives
a gift to 5th grade teacher Emily Nevins. Below: The entire Life Skills class.
activity to fi t those kids,” Mar-
tin said. “It’s so important to
teach empathy.”
The idea behind this proj-
ect is not only to teach empa-
thy, but also teach the joy that
comes with giving.
Laura Wyler has been an in-
structional assistant in the life
skills room at Weddle for the
last 12 years and she is a big fan
of the project that Martin has
brought to the class.
“It really is wonderful,”
Wyler said. “It’s teaching the
kids to interact with the other
adults, which is good exposure
for our kids.”
It took a few days of practice,
but by the time Monday came
around, the students were ready
to hand out their gifts around
the school. And members of the
staff was more than thrilled to
receive their presents.
“The joy of giving a gift was
really the focus this morning.
Students realizing how good
it feels when they are able to
make someone else feel good,”
fi fth grade teacher Emily Nev-
ins said.
“It made my day when the
students brought that mug to
me today. It is so good to re-
ceive a gift but also to give, no
matter how much it costs. It is
all about how it makes the per-
son feel.”
Fourth grade teacher Jona-
than Stover also added: “Having
the young girl give me the gift
today was easily the highlight of
my day.”
Classes
Fitness Center
Lectures
Special Events
Conferences
Billiards
Cards
Art
Crafts
Music
LGBT Chorus
hits stage this
weekend
The Confl uence Willa-
mette Valley LGBT Chorus
will have three performances
this weekend.
Concerts will be Friday,
Dec. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the
First Congregational United
Church of Christ in Salem;
Saturday, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m.
at the Bridgeport United
Church of Christ in Portland
and Sunday, Dec. 16, at 4:30
p.m. at the Unitarian Univer-
salist Fellowship in Corvallis.
Purchase tickets from Con-
fl uence members or online
at confl uencechorus.org.
Advance tickets are $15
general admission and $12
seniors and students. At the
door, tickets are $18 and $15.
No one is turned away due to
lack of funds.
The concert will include
classic holiday favorites along
with toe-tapping songs like
Cool Yule recorded by Lou-
is Armstrong and Mistletoe
and Holly by Frank Sinatra.
In addition to Confl uence,
two subgroups will be per-
forming: Infl uence and Out-
fl uence. There will also be
an audience sing-along of
Christmas carols.
Dance
Travel
Lapidary
Woodshop
Computer Lab
Book Clubs
Support Groups
...and Much
More!