A Central Texas school is going above and beyond to make sure kids who go there have a happy holiday.
Bellaire Elementary students who are a part of the Communities in Schools program had the chance to fill out a wish list, and their wishes came true Wednesday afternoon.
Esther Hadley is the site coordinator for Communities in Schools at Bellaire Elementary.
"Christmas, the holidays are very important. Some kids are able to get something, some kids are not able to," Hadley said. "I started this program so each child was able to get something."
Hadley connected with numerous community members and organizations to collect Christmas gifts for the children in the Community in Schools program. The Bellaire staff even participated through an "Adopt a Student" campaign.
The goal of Communities in Schools is to encourage students to stay in school and as their mission statement says - help kids choose success.
"I think it's important at this age, in elementary, that you can see not all negative but the positive things in the education setting... not just in the classroom, but also in the community," Hadley added.
Hadley has ignited a change throughout the school that the children and staff are responding to, and over 100 gifts were given to students as a result.
"To walk in here and see all of these gifts sitting on the table and I know that everyone of my children in this program are going to walk away with a smile on their face, with the worry of "I'm not going to get anything" now gone, it has disappeared, it means so much," Bellaire Elementary School Principal Lavonda Loney said. "I applaud her for everything that she's done."
Hadley and the rest of the Bellaire staff want to thank the Killeen community for helping provide gifts and look forward to making this event a holiday tradition.
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