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The Milepost: Creating Community Through Traditions

Posted Date: 12/20/24 (6:00 PM)
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Milepost
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Seasons Happenings
A Look at Holiday Traditions in Chehalis Schools
December 20, 2024
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Winter Break is Here
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Our students are officially on Winter Break and we will not see them back in the classroom until 2025. We wish everyone a safe and joyful time together this winter break. Here are just a few glimpses of what our students and staff were up to in the days leading up to winter break.
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We Celebrated the Spirit of Generosity
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At Chehalis Schools, teaching our students positive character traits such as kindness, compassion and generosity is an important part of how we're preparing our students for the journey ahead. Here are just a few ways our students learned and practiced generosity this holiday season:
  • Students at James Lintott Elementary (grades K-2) and Orin Smith Elementary (grades 3-5) held their annual food drives for the Greater Chehalis Food Bank, which netted 1,280 pounds of food from James Lintott and 2,075 pounds of food from Orin Smith Elementary - a total of 3,355 pounds of food
  • At W.F. West High School (grades 9-12), student leadership once again held its Winter Wishes fund drive to grant the Christmas wishes of their fellow students. And once again, staff and community members donated enough money to purchase a gift for every student at W.F. West High School.
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Photos of James Lintott and Orin Smith Elementary students loading donated food into pallets for the Greater Chehalis Food Bank.
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A group of W.F. Wes students and a teacher pose at the checkstand at Sunbirds while shopping for Winter Wishes gifts.
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We Celebrated Our District & Community Ties
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In Chehalis Schools, viewing ourselves as a single community with the same mission and goals is important. And it is also important to us that our students have strong and positive ties to our community. Here are some ways we built community this holiday season.
  • Our Baby Bearcats preschoolers got to have some messy fun making gingerbread houses. Afterward, they got a chance to visit the City of Chehalis' very own larger than life gingerbread house on the corner of 13th and Market Street and be inspired by this creation that is created each year by community volunteers.
  • Our Cornerstone program staff were busy this holiday season helping connect Chehalis families with resources to make their seasons a little brighter. Their work was made possible by so many donors from the community who stepped forward to help. For example, community business Essex Labs used their annual company holiday party as a wrapping party for dozens of Christmas presents that were donated to Cornerstone. Every donated item made it into the hands of families who needed them this season.
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Photos of staff at Essex Labs getting Christmas presents ready for the staff at Cornerstone to distribute.
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Members of the baby bearcats program pose in front of gingerbread houses they made in one photo, while the group poses in front of the City of Chehalis' large gingerbread house display in another photo.
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  • Our W.F. West Orchestra musicians visited James Lintott Elementary and Orin Smith Elementary to share some holiday music and inspire the next generation of Bearcat musicians.
  • Our W.F. West cheerleaders visited Chehalis Middle School (grades 6-8) during their annual holiday dodgeball tournament to spread some holiday cheer.
  • Many of our students gave their families a reason to cheer. W.F. West musicians performed holiday tunes at Winterfest, our 5th grade musicians entertained their peers (and their families via live stream), our 1st graders gave a holiday musical performance and our James Lintott Elementary Spanish Storytime students gave a readers theater performance of El Hombrecito del jengibre (the Gingerbread Man).
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Photos of the W.F. West orchestra performing at Orin Smith Elementary and W.F. West cheerleaders performing at Chehalis Middle School.
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Students sing at a Christman musical and other students perform a Spanish language readers theater of the Gingerbread man.
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