IN THE CLASSROOM -- Unexpected letters to Santa

Deirdre Newman

When Jennifer Benhardus asked her fourth-grade students at Kaiser

Elementary School to write letters to Santa, she expected to get the

traditional requests -- Pokemon games, videos and the like.

So she said she was thrilled when instead of asking for presents for

themselves, many of the students asked for Christmas wishes for their

family members, their community and the world at large.

“When I read them, it almost brought a tear to my eye because they’re

all about the spirit of giving,” Benhardussaid.

Benhardus encouraged her students to think about what actions they

could take to help make their Santa’s wishes come true.

“A lot of this starts with you. Peace starts with you,” she said.

The students wrote the letters two weeks ago and then shared them with

their classmates and illustrated them Wednesday.

In his letter, Austin Turner asked for Santa to stop the fighting in

Afghanistan.

“I don’t like the way [the terrorists] crashed planes into the twin

towers, but I still don’t think we should have a war,” Austin said.

To complement his letter, Austin drew a picture of two Afghans and two

Americans shaking hands.

Kevin Bee asked Santa for a wish that recently came true -- his aunt

was able to adopt a baby she had been taking care of because the baby’s

mother was in jail on drug charges.

After each student shared his or her letter with the rest of the

class, Benhardus engaged them in discussion so they could reflect on how

they could help with their request to Santa.

Megan Kloeckner, who asked for a PT Cruiser for her mom, said she

could save her weekly $5 allowance to pitch in.

In response to Brianna Kirby’s letter asking Santa to make sure the

homeless have better lives, Benhardus pointed out that anyone could bring

a blanket or some food to a homeless shelter.

Benhardus said her students’ spirit of generosity goes above and

beyond the call of duty for 9- and 10-year-olds.

“It shows me that each one of them is an individual soul, so someone

is doing something right -- either their family or their friends,” she

said.

Benhardus also stressed the importance of spelling and punctuation, as

writing a letter with proper grammar is one of the fourth-grade

standards.

The letters will ultimately be mailed home so the students’ parents

can see them.

And what does Benhardus want for Christmas?

“I wish I could win the lottery. I would buy each one of [my students]

whatever they want because they work so hard,” she said.

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot education

writer Deirdre Newman visits a campus in the Newport-Mesa area and writes

about her experience.