CCSD59 Fills Holiday Season with Charity, Celebrations
The holiday season is one of the most enjoyable times on the CCSD59 calendar. Not only does it lift the spirits of students, staff, and families across our communities, but offers everyone the chance to make an impact both in and out of school.
Students and staff across the district showcase their charitable ways throughout the year, but the holiday season provides extra incentive to give back to their community. Our buildings are routinely filled with concerts, stores, charity drives, and unique projects that illustrate what this time means.
Holiday shops are one of the most common sights throughout CCSD59. Some offer students the chance to build a budget and purchase gifts for family and friends. Others are designed to lend a helping hand to families in need by way of affordable gift options.
Students and staff also focus on members of the community in need by collecting canned goods, toiletries, stuffed animals, winter clothing, and other necessary items. Students and staff at each school put their own spin on how they choose to donate. Rupley students, for example, spent time decorating and filling personal gift bags for senior residents at Alexian Village in Elk Grove Village. Meanwhile, the focus at Ridge was raising funds for a local food pantry through the sale of holiday crafts.
Both students and teachers were on the receiving end of new books as well. Staff members at several schools made the rounds to surprise students with new books, while the annual Spanish Dual Language Book Fair allowed teachers to pick out 30 new publications to take back to their classrooms.
Musical talent has also been on display, with junior high bands and choral groups touring neighboring elementary schools to perform concerts. Forest View students also continued their tradition of performing in the community as they sung at the annual tree lighting at Randhurst Mall in Mount Prospect.
Parents and other family members were also regular sights in schools in recent days as they took part in some festivities. Clearmont held its annual celebration of Holidays Around the World, which provided families with different countries of heritage to come and display how they celebrate this time of year. Other schools held parties and read-along sessions that welcomed family members to join.
Each act of kindness illustrates how the district population strives to end the calendar year in a positive way. The focus is on giving back to one another, whether it be classmate to classmate, student to relative, or coworker to coworker, and the family bonds across the district are strengthened because of it.