Kindergarten Class Stuffs Stockings for Troops

This week, some Waverly students got into the Thanksgiving spirit, showing members of the United States Armed Forces just how much their service is appreciated. 

On Monday afternoon, youngsters in Nicole Ullrich’s kindergarten class held their annual Giving Thanks Project: Stockings for Soldiers, which saw them prepare care packages for service members and send along notes of encouragement and joy. 

Over the last several weeks, the students collected goods for inclusion in the stockings—including snacks, playing cards, toothbrushes, toilet paper and more—all items that they hope will provide an emotional lift to those who aren’t able to spend the holiday season with their families and loved ones.

The project stems from a partnership between the Eastchester Teachers Association and the Never Forget Foundation, which provides the stockings for shipment. Student families are responsible for supplying the items that will be sent to the troops.

Ullrich said that it’s vital for children to explore concepts like gratitude, especially around Thanksgiving, as it helps them to understand the responsibilities that members of a community have to each other. 

“In addition to academics, a big part of the kindergarten curriculum is fostering positive social emotional growth, and wellness,” she explained.

Since learning of this initiative from Waverly teacher Amanda Falcone five years ago, Ullrich’s class has turned this into an annual tradition, offering students a way to combine their work in Social Emotional Learning with the academic skills—including writing, vocabulary and art—that they are strengthening in the classroom each day. 

On Monday, students discussed common words and phrases meant to represent kindness and gratitude and included them in their letters to the troops, something Ullrich explained is an important building block, not only for growth in literacy but also in the way students engage and interact with the world around them.

“Incorporating projects such as this one helps students connect their academic skills to everyday life. It allows them to use the skills that they are learning in school to create something that will bring joy and happiness to others,” said Ullrich. “Projects like this serve to bridge those two very special components and can help students see the goodness they can create by writing words of kindness and drawing pictures to bring smiles to other faces. They are using the skills they're learning and sharing positivity in the world.”