A Season of Giving at Greenacres

Last spring, the fifth grade class at Greenacres considered what they'd like to give to the school as a parting gift. After some discussion, the children agreed that their favorite part of school was the playground, and they'd like to plant a tree near the playground which would give shade to future students. With the help of the experts at Sprainbrook Nursery, the gift committee offered the class information about four different varieties of trees suitable for the playground. The children studied about the four varieties, and voted overwhelmingly for a white ash tree to be planted in the fall. There were unconfirmed reports of ballot stuffing. Last week, with the assistance of Sprainbrook and the Board of Education, the tree was delivered and planted at the Greenacres playground. The students will enjoy coming back to the playground in a few years to see if the tree has grown into its tag.  Article by Jeannette Warner/ Photos by Kathleen Campbell.

Recent grads Noah Glantz and Blake Goldstein Plant the Tree

Principal Gerry Young and 5th grade teacher Mitch Crasson with Noah Glantz and Blake Goldstein

For Greenacres families, giving has been as easy as 1, 2, 3 this holiday season. The school's Community Service Committee organized a season of giving by planning three back-to-back drives, extending from the week before Thanksgiving to December 14. Cindy Sansone, the school's teacher in charge, was a tremendous assistant to the project in the school on a day –to-day basis. To their classrooms, students brought non-perishable foods one week, cold weather accessories the second week and holiday gifts the third week. The donations were given to The Salvation Army, Grace Church Community Center and PS 1 respectively.

The outpouring of generosity from Greenacres families was stunning; thirty-five boxes of food, four thirty-gallon bags of winter accessories and nearly 700 gifts – almost 2 for every child at Greenacres, where the student population is 393 students.

Pictured here are the piles and piles of gifts, overflowing several offices, being readied for delivery to the sister school in the Bronx on Wednesday December 14th. There were more than enough gifts to meet the school's goal to collect one gift for every child at PS 1, a school in the Bronx with which Greenacres has been partnering for many years.