Spreading the holiday cheer

ASL class spends the day with kids from room 49 A

Story by Raelyn Albert, staff writer

American Sign Language teacher Britni Huggins and special education teacher Samantha Autrey coordinated an event where special education students went to see Santa. The event took place at the Central Mall and in Room 49A on Dec. 5.

“I take my kids to see Santa, and I don’t know specifically if these kids get to go see Santa,” Huggins said. “Because of the mobility issues, typical behavioral issues or environmental issues that go along with kids with multiple disabilities, being able to be out in the mall on a typical Saturday [is sometimes hard].”

When the ASL students arrived to Room 49A, they helped the kids make Christmas list and beards to show Santa later on.

“We went around the mall and looked at shoes that [senior] Montague really wanted, then we went to JCPenney and he saw Christmas ornaments he liked,” senior Hayden Fant said. “[After that], we saw Santa Claus, and he told him what he wanted for Christmas.”

When the students arrived at the mall, Santa had not arrived yet, so everyone walked around until lunch, looking at things they wanted for Christmas.

“We walked Meme around the mall and let him play in the play area and drive some of the little kiddie rides,” senior Micayla Harvey said.

After taking pictures with Santa, everyone came back to the school to watch “The Grinch.” At the end of the day, the kids made miniature Christmas trees to take home.

“We made Christmas trees with them out of sticks and stickers and watched ‘The Grinch,’” senior Braiden Brown said. “Hopefully they had a good time because if they didn’t then we didn’t do our job.”