CONWAY - These Christmas shoppers were wide-eyed, giggling and eager to spend money on things like Spider-Man pajamas and underwear, Barbie dolls, board games, a doll stroller and warm jackets.
Sixteen second-graders, accompanied by their teacher and a few parents and siblings, recently gathered at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Conway to buy gifts for five needy children whose wish lists came from the local Salvation Army’s “angel tree.”
In just nine days, the class of 25 had raised $1,066.15 for the venture, said Kiann Robinson, their teacher at Woodrow Cummins Elementary School in Conway. They collected donations. And some children gave of their own funds - birthday money they hadn’t spent, for example.
“The children raised the money themselves,” Robinson said. “I sent out a letter to the parents just telling them what we were doing. The kids made a little envelope that they kept in their folders every day for angel-tree donations.
“After the first day, they had raised [about] $203,” she recalled. “A lot of it came from neighbors, friends. It wasn’t just parents who donated. The kids really worked hard. They asked people from their churches. … It was really exciting for them. They knew that they were working for it.”
Christian Holden, 7, said she wanted to participate in the effort “because it’s helping the angels so they can have a good Christmas.”
Then, with the wish lists in hand and the guidance of the adults, the young shoppers hit the store aisles to choose the gifts.
They divided into five groups, each shopping for a different child. Boys scouted out gifts for the boys and the girls for the girls.
“We’re helping others, and that’s the most important thing,” said Drake Naylor, 7, as he checked out Super-Man and Duck Dynasty underwear sets.
The children were the ones who decided how to help others this Christmas. Each month, Robinson’s class focuses on “a word of the month” that deals with character. The word for December was “caring.”
“We talked about different ways we show we care,” Robinson said. “We read some books, and then we decided as a class” what to do.
“We said we wanted to do something to show we care for others.”
Ideas included donating items to the Faulkner County Humane Society, a Toys for Tots campaign and a food pantry.
After deciding on the angel-tree idea, the children at first thought they would have only enough money to buy for one child.
But they ended up with enough for five and had $15 left over.
With that money, Robinson went to a dollar store and bought small gifts, like coloring books.
When the classmates realized that the donations were going well, they decided to aim for $1,000.
One little boy “said he was talking at the dinner table” and mentioned that his class needed just $147 more to reach the goal, Robinson recalled.
“He said his sister went in and gave him $20 of her own money. … I think she’s a fifth-grader,” Robinson said. “It was amazing. I think every child in that class gave something.”
The girl shoppers spent most of their time in the doll aisles, where they debated the virtues of various baby dolls before choosing one that came equipped for doctor visits. It had a stethoscope, a toy doctor’s needle and a bottle.
Checking out the Barbie dolls - one dressed formally as a “fashionista,” two helmeted Barbie sisters perched on a tiny bicycle built for two and another one training a dolphin - took some time, as the shoppers stood on tiptoes to compare prices and to show one another the ones they own.
They tried to be practical.
One Barbie set had more items in it, a girl said. “And that’s $19,” less than a nearby set, she added.
“It’s hard because there are so many to choose from, and you have to choose one,” said Chloe King, 8.
Standing beside a clothing rack, Christian pointed out that they wanted to make “sure we have long sleeves because it is the winter.”
“I like looking for toys,” said Romie Nawar, 7, who was missing a few front teeth and was wearing a shirt showing Dr. Seuss’ famous Grinch. She said she would enjoy playing with the child she was shopping for, or as she put it, “the little girl who had cool toys.”
Robinson believes that the children learned “the gift of caring in that it’s not all about what they get; it’s more about what they can give.”
“I think they really saw that a lot of things they take for granted, other kids don’t have. They learned … that giving just a little can add up very quickly,” she said.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 12/23/2013