Spreading Holiday Cheer
Generous Student Has Spirit Of Giving At Ottobine Elementary
Posted: December 11, 2012
Ottobine Elementary School kindergartner Nevaeh Moneymaker looks at books after a fellow student, who wants to remain anonymous, donated more than $200 so other children could buy a book at the school’s book fair. (Photos by Nikki Fox)
Fifth-grader Dalton Hartman (center) helps kindergartners Hayden Michael (right) and Kamden Baughman pick out a book to buy.
In front of about 20 Ottobine Elementary School students, Principal Laura Evy shared the tale of the young student who, like St. Nicholas himself, was moved by the spirit of giving.
“Ottobine has its own St. Nick,” Evy stated as the children looked on intently. “That person donated money from his piggy bank … [so we could] draw names for students who could go to the book fair.”
With their faces lit like a string of lights, one by one the children collected a green piece of paper, good for $5 at the school’s book fair, and marched down the hall thanks to the student dubbed “Ottobine St. Nick,” an anonymous young man who gave up his entire savings — $120 — to make the trek possible.
“I know other kids need it more than me,” said “Nick,” whose real name actually is Nicholas.
The student wants to remain anonymous, he said, to keep the focus on his mission: to make sure all of his peers have a bit of Christmas cheer.
The kindhearted student earned the money over a “long” period of time by feeding the dog, taking out the trash and performing other chores around the house.
But spending his hard-earned cash on himself seemed a waste.
“I think it’s gift enough just to help,” Nicholas said.
So, he took the money, asked his parents and others to chip in, and took the final $210 he collected to Evy with several criteria in mind.
He wanted the money to go toward something his friends would enjoy, something that was useful and something that would last a long time. The money was divided between the book fair — students who had not bought anything from the book fair were given the $5 voucher — and a fund to buy Christmas gifts for Ottobine’s neediest families.
“I can’t believe I get to get my stuff,” Cheyenne Mitchell, 6, said as she cradled three books in her arms at the book fair Friday. “I feel really good that this happened. I never thought it would happen to me.”
Evy said Nicholas set an important example.
“I think it makes us all stop and think about the choices we make and needs and wants,” she said. “He understands the meaning of sharing.
Contact Emily Sharrer at 574-6286 or esharrer@dnronline.com