In the spirit of giving, students from Elberta Middle School will be sponsoring 10 children for the Elberta Police Department's angel tree program, providing them with gifts on Christmas morning.

Alyssa Corbitt, Family and Consumer Science (FACS) teacher, said she has participated in the program for the past couple of years, enlisting students from both her FACS and Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) classes to help.

"We started this project in 2021, only having the funds to shop for four children. It started simply as a way to give back to our community and to spread happiness to those who are less fortunate," Corbitt said. "Our FCCLA does a lot of community service projects, and when the members that year had the idea to sponsor children for Christmas, I honestly think I responded, 'Sure! What's one more project?' not really considering the financial aspect of it. I knew we would find a way to make it work. The last two years we fundraised through bake sales and selling Elberta decals and spirit wear to make sure we could finance the projects."

Corbitt said that with each passing year and more money raised, the club has sponsored more and more children with the goal of taking on 10 angel trees this holiday season.

"Last year, we raised money to shop for eight, and our FCCLA officers made it our goal this year to raise enough to sponsor 10 children," Corbitt said. "This year, we worked the Elberta Sausage Festival selling Coke beverages and raised enough money to not only sponsor our goal of 10 children from The Angel Tree but to also fund service projects and events until the end of February."

Corbitt said one of her favorite parts of getting involved with the project is seeing how passionate and excited her students get to give back to children in their local community.

"For the most part, the children live in Lillian and Elberta, and one of my favorite parts is seeing how seriously my students take it," Corbitt said. "They divide into teams and create shopping lists based on the needs and wants of the child they are shopping for. When we get to Walmart, they have a budgeting document to fill out to help make sure they stay in the suggested budget of $75 per child."

Corbitt said participating in the project also helps students connect back to lessons learned in class, such as budgeting and shopping practically.

"They have to think about needs versus wants, practice comparison shopping skills and make decisions about their items, all the while communicating with each other and working together to meet their goal. These are all skills we have learned and practiced in our FACS class, and it's great to see them practice it in the real world," Corbitt said.

Of course, Corbitt added, it is also special to see her students develop a heart of giving to others.

"Some of the students who go shopping see in a very real way that there are families in our community who, for whatever reason, need a little help. I hear conversations about how many things they get for Christmas, how they can't believe the budget is only $75 per child, and that is very eye opening," Corbitt said. "They are excited to stay late after school to go do something for another person, and I believe the students learn the joy of doing for others. Even though they don't know the children, they put their all into making sure they paint a well-rounded picture of the child they are shopping for and curate a set of gifts that are exactly what they want. I tell people all the time that I have some amazing kids in my classes, and this is one of the times that reaffirms that."