Actions speak louder than words — and Gateway High School’s Chick-fil-A Leader Academy continues to validate its motto “Impact Through Action” by putting ideas into practice.
Members of the group chose to make the holidays a little brighter for some of their fellow Gators by setting up an angel tree as their “Do Good December” project, one of three service projects they complete each year.
In collaboration with the high school’s social workers, the Leader Academy chose families who could use some help with gift-giving this holiday season.
“At their November leader lab, students came up with the idea to create an angel tree where staff members could pick ornaments off of the tree and buy a gift for a student within the district,” Leader Academy adviser Marci Klinger said.
The tree was placed in the library at the end of November, and the group made ornaments with each student’s gender, age and wish list to place on the tree.
Messages were then sent out to the Gateway staff for anyone who wanted to donate. A total of 25 gifts were received from faculty members.
On Dec. 12, the Leader Academy met for a second time to complete their project.
“Students split up into groups of three and were assigned one of the children from the angel tree ornaments,” Klinger said. “They were tasked with learning about that child’s likes and interests.”
The groups traveled to Five Below, where they shopped for stocking stuffers and wrapping paper. Upon returning to Gateway, the Leader Academy worked together to wrap the presents.
They concluded by having lunch — Chick-fil-A, naturally — and participating in a Leader Lab focused on effective teamwork.
The Leader Academy is comprised of more than two dozen high schoolers and three advisers — Klinger, Regan Reeder and Dawn Nicolazzo — and partners with Monroeville’s Chick-fil-A owner, Brian Wenger.
“Every year, we are impressed with the effort the students put into their project,” Klinger said.