A Christmas Eye Opener

Today was the last day of classes before Christmas/winter break. We had a fun day for the students. The first hour of the day the students wrote letters to alumni that are service men/women. We planned a lot of fun for the students, we had a dance, and carnival games for the students. We went to local donors and collected presents for each student. We had sweatshirts, candy, toiletries, and small games. I was in a class that belongs to a group home, which means they really don't get a Christmas, I watched them open their bags of gifts and it was sad to see how excited they got over receiving soap, shampoo, socks, and things that I don't think about. One girl asked another "What are we going to do with the bubble bath?" The reponse was "Well if you ever get an away visit you can take it with you," the reply, "oh I don't think I'll get one of those. I was really saddened by that." It really felt like Christmas Morning seeing these girls open their presents, it made me wish that I had donated more to the cause, I did donate time and a little money but seeing their reaction I wished that I had donated more. The students from group homes were not allowed to stay for the festivities. That was sad too, but understandable as there are problems when they interact with the other students. With the main body of the students, we had a dance and games, it was fun, the dance started out mostly just the faculty dancing in the center of the room, we kept trying to pull others out onto the floor, we have a professional caller as one of the teachers he did a line dance that was amazing, it really brought everyone off the walls and they danced. We also taught latin dancing, I later played a fun pick up Basketball game with some students and it was a blast. I was wearing a new white button up shirt that all the staff were given and during the game the pocket was ripped off, it was really a fun day, I really enjoy interacting with HS students. I was saddened by seeing that this was probably the only Christmas some of the students would recieve, but was glad to see that they were having so much fun. I had a blast and realized that as a teacher I do more than teach people about computers. I help them live better lives.