Decorate the Pleasantville Cottage School
On Saturday, December 4, 2010, Honors students participated in the Honors event “Decorating the Pleasantville Cottage School for the Holidays.” The spreading of holiday cheer began at 11am and lasted for about two hours.Upon entering the Cottage School, I was not sure how to react. The group of thirty Honors students was piled into a small room in the director’s cabin and received a humbling speech from Ms Phina Geiger, Director of Volunteers at the Pleasantville Cottage School. She discussed the children we were about to meet and the array of circumstances and life challenges that they have faced. She warned us that some of these children had come from difficult backgrounds and may react differently to the group being there.
In partial shock, and with some nervousness, I listened as Prof. Christopher Walther split us up into four groups. I was put into the group that went to one of the young boys’ cottages. We walked down the path to the set-back cabin and my previous anxiousness began to change to excitement when I saw some of the children sticking their heads out the door.
“They’re here !” one shouted in excitement as he spotted us walking up the path. From then on I knew it was going to be a fun two hours. As soon as we walked in, we quickly began decorating.
“Let’s make stockings !” Prof. Walther belted. We all sat around the table and began to make stockings and paint toy soldiers. When we finished with the “little” projects, we decided to decorate the rest of the cottage. We put bows on the walls, and covered the doors with red and green wrapping paper. It was an absolute blast! Another student and I even built a fireplace out of construction paper-- where the kids could hang their newly-made stockings.
Overall the event was a great success and really a wonderful thing to do during the holidays. I highly recommend this event next year for everyone. It was eye opening, fun, and rewarding all bundled into the same little house, literally.
