Mill Creek students remember value of giving

MADISON – Fourth-graders at Mill Creek Elementary School remembered giving is better than receiving during the Christmas season.

These students combined lesson plans with the spirit of giving to throw a Christmas party for the children of Manna House in Huntsville. The party lasted for three hours at the food distribution center on Dec. 12.

“Teachers led the students through several activities that met a variety of language and math standards in planning the party,” John Peck said. Peck is Public Relations Manager for Madison City Schools.

“Skills included multiple-digit addition, multiplication, division, fractions and some basic consumer skills,” Peck said.

In addition, students prepared a list of needed supplies for a Christmas party, researched and compared prices at retail grocery sites for recipe items and converted the recipes for portions they would need for the party.

“Students had to covert capacity measurements in the recipes. They used Google maps to find the distance to travel, calculated the fuel cost for the bus and figured the overall cost for the party,” Peck said.

The classes wanted to associate the children’s holiday party with the spirit of giving. They collected stuffed animals to share on the visit. “The students had the opportunity to read Christmas books to the children of Manna House,” Peck said.

Mill Creek staff members who spearheaded the gift of giving were media specialist Kris Gray and fourth-grade teachers Kylie Henriksen and Tammy Thorpe.

Manna House is a 501(c)3 public charity that provides food assistance to those in need. The charity is supported by contributions from individuals, churches, civic groups and businesses.

Manna House’s address is 2110 S. Memorial Parkway in Huntsville. For more information, call 256-503-4848, email fran@mymannahouse.com or visit mymannahouse.com.