Kind acts keep piling up for Hawley Elementary School’s third graders, and all of their efforts culminated on December 12, when the entire third grade gathered in the school’s multipurpose room to donate pajamas and books to the Women’s Center of Greater Danbury to be distributed to children this holiday season.

Hawley teachers Tracy Galassi, Jen Pirone, and Sam Haber oversaw the December 12 effort, but everything came about thanks to kind acts completed by the third graders. As part of the school’s Kindness Month, the students were challenged by their teachers to complete acts of kindness. For each act of kindness, parents or the person the kind act was completed for were then asked to donate between 50 cents and $2. The money raised went toward purchasing the pajamas and books.

When the students gathered on December 12 to wrap pajamas and books together, Ms Galassi and Ms Pirone introduced them to the different stations where they would choose a book and pajamas, select a box and wrapping paper, create a handmade card to go with the gift, or complete activities. As part of the celebration, students and staff wore pajamas themselves. Many students wore festive sleepwear and hats.

“These children need some happiness, so the brighter your card the better,” Ms Galassi told the students. Soon students were folding white paper and choosing different crayons to draw on the cards. One student wrote, “Happy holidays my special friend,” on a card. The students were told not to include their full names on the cards.

“It’s fun because I just like donating stuff for people... I like helping people,” said third grader Dylan Potter.

Nearby, another student, while sorting through age-appropriate books for a girl who would wear size 4 pajamas, exclaimed, “This is so fun!”

“It’s a kind act because we are helping children in need,” said third grader Ivy Masotta.

“It’s awesome because we are helping other people, and it makes us feel good,” said third grader William Schiavi.

After all of the pajamas were paired with books, the gifts were wrapped, and the handwritten cards were attached, Ms Galassi and Ms Pirone delivered the gifts to the Women’s Center of Greater Danbury after school.