Student Santas

Westerville high schoolers raise money and buy gifts for the less fortunate

IF tHE SIGHt oF pRESENtS uNDER tHE

Christmas tree excites you, imagine seeing an entire gymnasium filled with them.

That’s a sight seen every year by students at all three Westerville high schools at the culmination of the Westerville Caring and Sharing Christmas program.

The program’s goal: to provide holiday gifts for less-fortunate students whose families cannot afford them.

Approximately 700 children in the Westerville City School District benefit. The program is open to all students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

In 2011, the high schools raised a total of $55,124 for the program: $7,950 from Westerville South High School, $12,717 from Westerville Central High School and $34,457 from Westerville North High School. The high schools raise more money for Caring and Shar ing than any other entity.

“It’s important to teach them the ideal of giving back to the community,” says Jason Rowsey, a Spanish teacher and South’s program coordinator.

Students raise funds for their homerooms, and typically, every room hits its goal. It’s heartening to see students stepping up, says Jennifer Horn, a math teacher and Central’s coordinator for the fundraising drive.

“I’ll hear them talking and saying, ‘I’m not going to buy dessert at lunch today, I’m going to give to (Caring and Sharing) instead,’” says Horn.

Melissa Simashkevich, a guidance counselor and North’s program co-coor dinator, remembers a drive a few years ago during which a student donated his entire paycheck to Caring and Sharing.

“I’ve seen some students who have kind of been in the background really come out and lurch forward as a citizen and take the lead on some of these projects,” says Spanish teacher Jen Zimmer, North’s other coordinator.

Once the fundraising is done, students volunteer to go shopping for items on the wish lists given to them by program ad ministrators. Because money is limited, students often become savvy shoppers.

“They do a good job of going there, price comparing and spending the least amount of money possible on these items so they can get more items on the list,” says Rowsey.

Finally, each school has an assembly at which students see the total amount of money raised and the entire supply of gifts they bought.

Westerville Caring and Sharing, an all-volunteer nonprofit, also organizes a holiday meal for qualifying children and their families and a back-to-school donation program.

Garth Bishop is editor of Westerville Magazine. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.

Westerville Central High School p rincipal todd Spinner speaks to students at the school’s 2011 Caring and Sharing assembly. Gifts bought with the program’s proceeds are laid out on the gymnasium floor.