Musical talent brings student cheer to nursing home

Special to Leader-Press

 

Christmas is known as the season of giving. But for the Clements/Parsons Elementary Kids Care Club, the season of giving runs every month of the year that school is in session. The anti-bullying club is built on kindness, compassion and community service and has qualified annually for a Copperas Cove Education Foundation grant to carry out its mission to meet its goals.

 

Thanks to the infusion of grant funding, every year at Christmas time, students get busy making cards, filling Christmas stockings with goodies and decorating trees to give to the residents of a local nursing home. The students beamed as they gave out more than 60 stockings with hugs and greetings of “Merry Christmas” to the residents at Hill Country Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center.

 

While some students who have not been in a nursing home setting can sometimes feel uncomfortable, for fifth grader Megan Hawthorne, the holiday stop was a wonderful experience.

 

“I want to come back every day and visit again,” she said, a smile spread broadly across her face.

 

Clements/Parsons Elementary interventionist Sheila Wright is the coordinator of the Kids Care Club and helps the students plan for the annual visit.

 

“Teaching our students that they can make a difference in their community is one of the goals of Kids Care Club and I feel that we met that goal today,” Wright said.

 

The Clements/Parsons Elementary Honor Choir shared its gift of song under the direction of music teachers Tino Sanchez and Ivan Calzada. The students’ performances of Silent Night and other nostalgic songs entertained both the residents and staff.

 

School library staff Robin Spencer and Tonya Wiginton sang along with the residents and praised the students on their performance.

 

“I was impressed with the students’ talent and you could tell just how much the residents enjoyed their visit,” Wiginton said.