ACS students, faculty, and staff recently participated in Operation Christmas Child and filled 69 shoeboxes to bless children this Christmas. The project was organized by 12th grader Jake DeNick as his Senior Project and concluded on November 18. The shoeboxes will be distributed around the world during this Christmas season by the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse.
Jake chose this initiative to be his Senior Project as part of a year-long Senior Project Class. “I’ve been participating in Operation Christmas Child for many years with my church and I’ve always enjoyed doing it,” Jake said. “I wanted to give the school community the chance to do it with me.”
During the week of October 24, Jake made presentations at several teacher meetings about his project and brought shoeboxes to hand out to teachers interested in doing the project with their students. By the end of the project, 13 classes from preschool to high school decided to participate, along with over a dozen of ACS faculty and staff members.
“This project is an opportunity for children in foreign countries to have a Christmas who don’t normally get to have a Christmas, while also getting to learn about the Bible,” Jake said. Each shoebox sponsor had the opportunity to choose if the box was for a boy or girl and to choose the age range, either 2-4 years old, 5-9 years, or 10-14 years old. The shoeboxes were filled with their choice of toys, school supplies, and personal care items. When Samaritan’s Purse distributes them to the children they also take the opportunity to share the Gospel.
Jake’s Senior Project class is facilitated by faculty member Daniel Vasquez. Other seniors are working a variety of Senior Projects, all with a community service focus and utilizing their individual gifts and talents. Part of each project also includes writing a letter of intent, writing a research or reflection paper, and doing an oral presentation to the class.
ACS 12th grader Jake DeNick is leading a special school-wide initiative to encourage teachers and students to participate in “Operation Christmas Child” by filling shoeboxes with gifts for children that will be distributed around the world during the Christmas season by the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. Jake has chosen this initiative to be his Senior Project as part of a year-long Senior Project Class and the deadline is November 14 to have all the shoeboxes filled and ready to ship to Samaritan’s Purse.
“I’ve been participating in Operation Christmas Child for many years with my church and I’ve always enjoyed doing it,” Jake said. “I wanted to give the school community the chance to do it with me.”
“It’s an opportunity for children in foreign countries to have a Christmas who don’t normally get to have a Christmas, while also getting to learn about the Bible,” Jake said. A shoebox sponsor has the opportunity to choose if the box is for a boy or girl and choose the age range, either 2-4 years old, 5-9 years, or 10-14 years old. The sponsor then fills the shoebox with their choice of toys, school supplies, and personal care items, and when Samaritan’s Purse distributes them to the children they also take the opportunity to share the Gospel.
Serving others and showing the love of Jesus through acts of kindness is the motto of a new Middle School Servant’s Heart Club that this month has made some 50 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, baked brownies for teens at the Covenant House in Atlantic City, and created hand-made cards for gift bags for Angels in Motion. The club is one of 12 middle school clubs that are now meeting weekly during 8th period, a new time slot created this year for middle school and high school clubs to meet.
ACS families generously donated food and supplies this week to bless those in need in Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. On Friday, October 7, members of the Varsity Boys Soccer team, along with their coach Chris Lopez, helped load a large box truck with the donations, which included over 30 cases of water bottles and nearly a dozen large bins and boxes filled with paper towels, laundry detergent, cereal, canned goods, diapers, baby wipes, and more.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our hallways and classrooms, as Christmas tree decorating got underway on December 3 — part of “The Giving Tree” contest, a new service project that is encouraging students from kindergarten to 12th grade to give back during this holiday season to charities in our community and around the world.
