Editor's note: The following story was reprinted with permission from the Grand Island Independent. Robert Pore is the writer.
FULLERTON - For the last two years the Christmas season has been especially meaningful for Fullerton eighth-grader Tyler Christensen.
Christensen is one of about 100 students at Fullerton High School - about one-fourth of the student population - involved in a program in which they make toys for needy children in their industrial arts class.
"It is really nice," Tyler said. "Some parents can't afford to go out and buy their kids stuff, so it's really nice if you can give them something for Christmas."
And making the toys by hand also gives the gift of your time and talent more of a value befitting the spirit of the season.
This year, the students are making toy baby cradles and laptop desks.
"It makes it a lot different because we try really hard to make these cradles pretty good so they won't break," Tyler said. "You go out and buy a plastic airplane and it just breaks."
What the project has taught Tyler for the last two years he has participated in it is a skill that will be a value throughout his life - giving to others.
"It makes you think, especially with everything that is going on in the world right now," he said. "It brings you back to the true meaning of Christmas other than just going out and buying. It's about giving."
The idea of having the students involved in making toys for needy children was developed by Dave Wamberg, industrial arts teacher at Fullerton High School. He got the idea for the project four years ago while attending a seminar.
Starting out small the first year, with the students making small tic-tac-toe games, the program has grown to include 100 youths volunteering their time and talent to the project this year. The year the program started there were about 20 students involved.
"I have always been very active in charity work," Wamberg said. "We started out small and a lot of the projects we are making, I was funding it out of my own pocket."
As he organized the project, Wamberg and the students began having fund-raisers to help finance it.
The fund-raisers started out as a hamburger feed during high school football games, which helped them to raise more than $500.
"Then the whole community started getting involved." Wamberg said. "I would get donations from alumni, area businesses and churches. It really started to snowball."
This year, the students were as busy as Santa's elves, working overtime to finish making 100 toy baby cradles before Christmas.
"We have been making cradles for the last three years and I was always going to switch over to something different, but the United Way still wanted those cradles because they were such a hit," Wamberg said. "The cradles have now sort of become our trademark."
Along with the cradles, the students also tackle a different toy project. This year they are making 30 wooden laptop desks.
While the project is run as a community service project by the students, Wamberg supervises the students' work in the school's shop class.
Students involved in the project run from seventh-graders to seniors. Also, students in the family and consumer science classes are participating in the project by making blankets and pillows for the cradles.
Fullerton Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are also involved with the project, helping paint the cradles and do book drives, with the books also donated to the Heartland United Way in Grand Island.
While the students tackle making the toys during shop class, Wamberg said they also volunteer to come to help after school on special scheduled work nights.
Along with learning a practical skill of creating something of value with their hands, Wamberg said the students are also learning some strong values that will help make them better citizens after they graduate.
"I'm trying to incorporate in them the value of serving others," he said. "If I can just get these kids involved serving others and they don't even think about it and just do it, it becomes second nature for them."
Eighth-grader Jeremy Wetovick said being involved in the program also has special meaning for him. Like Tyler, this is the second year he has been involved in the program.
"It's really nice to give needy children presents and it helps a lot," he said. "It makes their Christmas go better."
Being involved in the project the last two years has also brightened the life of eighth-grader Lisa Pomplun and shown her what the Christmas season is all about.
The fact that the students are making the toys with their own hands makes it even more significant, she said.
"I think it is really good because if they know that somebody made it for them, it gives that gift more value," Pomplun said. "Sometimes putting those cradles together can be hard, but it's a lot of fun."
For the last three years, Wamberg said, the toys the students have made were delivered the week before Christmas to the United Way in Grand Island which distributes them to needy children.
Anyone interested in donating to the program can contact Wamberg at 308-536-2431.
Print This Story
Email This Story
