Laurel Highlands students bring spirit of Christmas to Connellsville flood victims
Nevaeh Shipley, 6 paints a pinecone ornament at the Connellsville Relief Center Thursday night supplied by money raised by Laurel Highlands Middle School faculty and students.
Amber Porterfield of Bullskin Twp., hugs her daughter Deztini after her family recieves a Christmas tree at the Connellsville Relief Center Thursday night. Over twenty Christmas trees, holiday docorations and ornaments made by Laurel Highlands middle school students were given to families effected by the Connellsville flooding this past August.
Kody Stenger, eighth-grader at Laurel Highlands Middle School, works on designing his ornament to look like a snowman during class on Tuesday. The students in Susan Wilson’s Ski Club are making dozens of ornaments to be put on donated Christmas trees for families displaced by the Connellsville flood.
Laurel Highlands Middle School Art teacher, humanitarian and artist, Susan Wilson, helps her students with their snowflake ornaments during class on Tuesday. In efforts to teach students the importance of helping others, Wilson has class will be donating the ornaments to families displaced by the Connellsville flood.
Seventh-grader Taylor Brothers enjoys herself while making ornaments with fellow Ski Club members at Laurel Highlands Middle School. All ornaments are being donated to Connellsville flood victims.
Laurel Highlands Middle School eighth-graders Zoe Mikulin (left) and Meagan Marinelli work on constructing ornaments out of Christmas cards in art teacher Susan Wilson’s classroom. All orniments are being donated to Connellsville flood victims.
Elda Thompson, 94 of Connellsville shares a moment with Susan Wilson, art teacher at Laurel Highlands Middle School and organizer for the donation event for flood victims at the Connellsville Flood Relief Center on Thursday.
Russell and Beverly Soisson lost nearly everything when their Springfield Pike home of 38 years was damaged in the August flood.
But that did not dampen the holiday spirits of the Soissons, who were one of 30 or so Connellsville flood survivors who stopped by the Flood Relief Center on North Pittsburgh Street Dec. 1 to pick up a free Christmas tree, decorations and a slice of pizza.
“It brings hope and faith,” said Beverly, who has been staying with relatives while work is being done on their home, which should be ready early next year.
Because of the generosity of 30 eighth-graders at Laurel Highlands Middle School in South Union Township, and their art teacher, Christmas will be a little brighter for more than two dozen area families whose homes were damaged in the August flood.
Susan Wilson’s students made Christmas ornaments for 19 artificial trees that she purchased for the flood victims. Wilson used money collected by co-workers when her mother, Sally Wilson, died in September at the age of 85. Dollar General, Wal-Mart, and Dunbar Borough also donated to Wilson’s effort which resulted in about 30 families getting a tree and decorations.
“You don’t recover from a flood in a day,” said Wilson during a recent class where her students were listening to Christmas music and putting glitter on snowflakes and painting glass balls.
During that devastating flood, homes and businesses were destroyed, cars were swept away and irreplaceable valuables were lost. It is estimated that the catastrophe impacted 300 area families.
“Mom would have been onboard with this,” said Wilson, who has been teaching art at the middle school for 22 years. “Mom had a stroke when she was 36, but even afterwards, she always gave back.”
Jayson Guth and Roxanna Uphold lost their Connell Avenue home and since August have been staying in an apartment. Roxanna said it has been tough paying both a mortgage and rent, but something that’s necessary to keep their credit intact.
“This is fantastic,” said Roxanna, who had a bag of decorations, while Jayson carried the tree box.
Kindness is a lesson Wilson has worked on instilling in her students since the beginning of the school year, a project she calls “The Art of Being Kind.”
Using a Flat Stanley doll, modeled after a well-known personality known for his or her generosity, such as Ellen DeGeneres, Wilson had her students do random acts of kindness and photograph themselves with a flat friend.
“The idea was to do kind deeds,” said Wilson, adding she was overwhelmed with the response of her students.
Wilson took it up a notch when her mother died in September and decided it was time to help the Connellsville flood victims. The students got on board with their teacher and helped organize a toy drive too.
“I try and be a role model,” Wilson said. “And my some of my students were really excited to help give these kids a Christmas.”
Leann Brink, an eighth-grader, said she is helping because she would have been devastated if the flood had affected her family.
“There are a lot of things now that they don’t have that we take for granted,” said student Mia Marinelli.
Jenna Schnatterly, also in eighth grade, said people need to think of others and not themselves during the holiday season.
“These kids have nothing,” added student Kody Stenger.
During the Dec. 1 tree giveaway, kids and their parents enjoyed pizza provided by the United Methodist Committee on Relief. The younger ones had the opportunity to meet Santa Claus and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.
Amber Porterfield, who came to the tree giveaway with her four children, ages 16, 13, 11 and 10, said the flood damaged the basement of her Rockridge Road. That was where she kept her Christmas decorations.
“We’ll manage,” she said. “We always do.”