Ending the fall semester on a high note, the Peer, Assistance, Leadership, and Service (PALS) organization made personalized cards for their PALees and delivered them on Tuesday, Dec. 16.
PALS has eight different feeder school that they go to which includes Grisham Middle School, Canyon Vista Middle School and elementary schools including Caraway, Laurel Mountain, Purple Sage, Anderson Mill, Spicewood, and Canyon Creek. Each member of PALS is placed into a campus that goes to one school.
“There’s a couple goals for the cards,” Grisham Campus Coordinator Asher David ‘26 said. “Firstly, we wanted to do something fun and special with the kids for our last day of the semester. Second, the card gives them a reminder of us for anytime they’re struggling over the break, as it’s a long time without seeing us. Lastly, it allows their parents [and] families to meet us in a way, giving them a face for their child’s PAL.”
PALS advisor Keelie Kish came up with the idea of creating personalized cards with the intent to make every PALee feel seen and heard. To make each card unique and more personal for the kids, all the PALS took one-on-one photos with each of their kids and included them in the card.
“I’m very thankful that Ms. Kish was able to organize this and work with our campus schedules,” David said. “She bought the cards and the arts and crafts [for decorating the cards], printed all of our pictures, and was flexible enough to make sure every PALee got a card. This couldn’t have happened without her.”
After decorating the cards with a wide range of holiday stickers, markers, and color pencils, PALS handwrote notes, ensuring each card turned out different to showcase each child’s personality.
“My favorite part when making the cards was being able to tailor them to my kids,” Amelia Nuccitelli ‘27 said. “I know what all my girls like, so I was able to incorporate that in my cards so they were all special and unique. I decorated the cards differently depending on the kid. I would incorporate their favorite things in the card, [like their] favorite animal, favorite color, an inside joke.”
Once the cards were finished, they turned them in to their campus to be handed out to their kids as a surprise. The little notes, endearing messages, and photos added to the cards demonstrated the PALS’ appreciation and care for their PALees. To end the semester, each campus hosted a party on their last day with their PALees. Many PALS brought materials to decorate cookies, play games, and spend time having fun with their kids.
“One fun memory that I have on the last day of going to campus was seeing my PALees, making new friends, and talking to other PALees and their PALS that were decorating cookies with us,” Mimi Echavez ‘27 said. “It was so heartwarming to watch them collaborate with each other and be able to share Christmas cheer with everyone around us.”
During the last few weeks of school before winter break, many campuses had bonding events. At these events, PALS campuses weren’t scheduled to go to their school, and instead bonded with the members of their campus by playing games, watching movies, and spending quality time together to send off the first semester.
“PALS is special to me because it gives me a chance out of my day, during all the hectic of school and hectic of life, to put myself in other people’s shoes and be able to focus solely on the care of someone else,” Echavez said. “It also just helped me become a lot more aware and a lot more of a selfless person.”
