Lester B. students team up with Yellow Brick house

December 18, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

It’s the time of year for giving and Lester B. Pearson Public School students Taylor Goodyear and Emma Lindsay wanted to make sure they did their part.

The two Grade Five students have rallied their fellow students and have collected a large number of toys and goods to ship to the Yellow Brick House just in time for the holidays.

The two friends knew they wanted to do something to help out this Christmas and were inspired by something a fellow student has been doing at the school.

“There was a girl before us; she had done a food drive, so we thought we could help,” Goodyear said. “She wanted to help the school and other people and so did we. We decided to do it and asked if she needed help and she said yes.”

Added Lindsay: “I thought it is November, December and I always get a really good Christmas, so I thought other people should too. I went to talk to the people who organized it, started to put out the word that we were collecting toys and I also emailed the organization that would take the toys and they said they also accept toiletries, clothes and a mixture of things.”

Over the years the school has spearheaded a number of community initiatives. Principal Arin Otis said he wasn’t surprised to see students step up again this year.

“We encourage global citizenship, so these students being able to come forward and take the leadership on their own means that we’re doing a really good job,” he said.

“The teachers are doing a really good job at conveying the important messages of being responsible, growing up to be a solid citizen, being respectful, so I’m very proud of the students when they come forward and they’re able to articulate a plan and be able to execute the plan to help others less fortunate than them.”

Otis said the school is always supportive of the initiatives students bring forward, as long as it is something that benefits the community and promotes a good, solid message to the rest of the school.

“I think we’re developing a solid reputation of being able to give back. In some cases they have a lot of opportunities that a lot of other kids their age might not have and their learning the importance of sharing and giving back to the community. It’s becoming a bigger part of the overall fabric of the school, for sure.”

All of the toys and goods collected will be packaged and shipped to the Yellow Brick House, which is an organization in Aurora, and now in the southern tier of York Region, that supports abused women and children in York Region.

Goodyear for one was proud of how the school supported the cause.

“As you can see there are lots of toys in there and we really appreciate that they bring these,” she said. “It’s really nice and I feel really good, because they’re helping us and we’re helping others.”