MANSFIELD — Santa traded in his reindeer for a bright yellow school bus on Friday, bringing Christmas cheer to more than 100 Mansfield students.
The staff at Malabar Intermediate spent its inservice day delivering cookies, milk and hot chocolate to 106 students, all nominated by their teachers, as a reward for their hard work this school year.
“They were picked by their teachers for doing such a great job with online learning. They have been logging in every day, completing all their assignments and just excelling in their academics,” said Principal Tom Hager.
“We know how difficult digital learning can be for our students and families and we wanted to acknowledge that,” said Jen Yoder, an intervention specialist at Malabar. “Our goal was to reward the students who persevered through all the challenges we’ve faced this year.
“Each teacher nominated three students who showed excellent motivation and embodied the spirit of Malabar’s motto: ‘No Excuses’!”
Dawn Cole, who heads up the “No Excuses” committee at Malabar, had already planned a cookies and hot chocolate session before the district went remote.
When the district transitioned to online learning, Cole approached Hager and asked if they could deliver the treats via school bus.
After that, everyone was on board.
“Everyone on staff came together to help in some way,” Yoder said. “Our cafeteria staff made and bagged the cookies and cocoa, the bus garage donated four busses for us to drive around town in, teachers and staff volunteered to stuff and decorate the bags and also donated candy canes and their time to deliver.”
Teachers even donned costumes — with six elves and one Santa Claus per bus. One pulled a giant decorative candy cane out of her yard so she could hand out bags while staying socially distanced.
“That’s really what the staff at Malabar is like,” Cole said. “That’s the climate of that building. If you have an idea, you have 50 people that are going to help you with that idea.
“It’s always about the kids.”
Hager, who helped deliver the treats dressed as Santa Claus, said the smiles on students and families’ faces was his favorite part of the day.
“They were really excited. We just miss them, so it was nice to see their faces,” he said. “I got a big hug from a kid. It kind of brought tears to all of our eyes.”
The event came just a day after Malabar offered a drive-thru for all its students. With funds donated by Maddox Memorial Church, the staff put together gift bags with Rubix cubes, pencils, notebooks and candy canes.
Even though the goal was to bring Christmas cheer to students, staff members said they got just as much joy from seeing their students again.
“It’s very hard right now for teachers. It’s very hard to see what’s going on,” Cole said. “The teachers at Malabar, they just miss their kids. They’re like their family. We miss them and worry about them.”
