In the spirit of the holiday season, Miller Intermediate students are giving to many people in need through a project titled “Acts of Kindness.”

While she knew the projects would be big, Miller’s peer facilitator Carol Baird said she was overwhelmed at all the students accomplished in such a short amount of time.

“Our students instantly became excited about this project,” Baird said. “Before we knew it, students and teachers were spreading the word of their individual class projects, which only encouraged everyone’s efforts even more. Our kids have done so much for others during this holiday season.”

At the beginning of December, each advisory class, which meets twice a week to focus on character and leadership, was prompted to brainstorm examples of “acts of kindness” in which students decided to either collect food, clothes, toys or money for various community organizations.

The students then planned and implemented their projects, and representatives from each of the organizations came to the school this week to speak with the students and pick up their donations.

“As the excitement grew throughout our school, we realized how meaningful it would be for our students to actually meet representatives from the various agencies they had chosen for their acts of kindness,” Baird said.

Math teacher Doug Brown’s advisory class decided to help soldiers over seas by “adopting a soldier,” and his students collected more than $1,500 by holding car washes, selling refreshments at football games, and sponsoring an arm wrestling contest and a school dance to buy items to send to Iraq.

“We chose soldiers because of everything they do for us,” Brown said. “I want my kids to realize the great sacrifices made for their benefit, to appreciate those sacrifices, and to get a small taste of what it means to sacrifice for others.”

Army Pvt. Andy Waller, who just returned home from Iraq and is a product of Pasadena schools, represented the soldiers who are still stationed in Iraq and thanked the students for their efforts.

“It’s really neat for soldiers to receive these care packages because you don’t know us and we don’t know you, but you still show that you care about what we’re doing over there,” Waller said. “We thank you.”

Brown’s class has filled 60 boxes of items so far, with each soldier getting two boxes. Brown said there is still enough money for about 40 more boxes, which will go out after the holidays.

“The sooner our kids realize our world is only as good as the people in it, the sooner they can realize they have the power to make whatever world they want,” Brown said. “I hope our students understand that helping others is a job we all need to do, and that no matter how bad our day is, there is someone out there who has it much worse. Hopefully, they will walk away with a deeper appreciation of the blessings in their lives and understanding that we are all in this together.”

Jan Perales’ advisory class bought stockings and filled them with toys for children battling cancer at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

“When we are teaching children, we have to teach the whole child,” Perales said. “Our job today is not only to teach the academic needs of the child but to be concerned with their social development and awareness of the world around them. Our kids had such a good feeling about the act of giving through this project.”

For The Bridge Over Troubled Waters, a safe-zone for women and children in abusive situations, one class collected clothing, food, holiday gift bags for 10 boys and 10 girls, and teddy bears for children when they first arrive at The Bridge.

Other classes also collected toys and food items for the Pasadena Police Department’s annual Toy Drive; books and canned goods for Neighborhood Centers; clothing, suits, shoes, purses, toiletries and food items for the Covenant House; 258 pairs of new socks, food and clothing for the Salvation Army; and canned goods for the North Pasadena Community Outreach Center.

Other activities included cards and a party for the school’s cafeteria and custodial staff, cards for the Veterans’ Hospital and for children at Texas Children’s Hospital, and selling candy to raise money for others in need.

“We wanted our students’ focus to be on giving without expecting anything in return because giving is the right thing to do,” said the school’s principal Joe Saavedra. “Everybody can contribute in one way or another, and we wanted our kids to recognize that whether they give a penny or a dollar, it doesn’t matter. The fact they took the initiative and contributed anything at all is what makes the real difference.”