Courtesy of State College Area School District
By Chris Rosenblum
SCASD Director of Communications
On Friday afternoon, Houserville Elementary School’s all-purpose room suddenly turned into a bustling marketplace.
Students, clutching bags and chattering excitedly, shopped for holiday gifts from familiar vendors — their classmates, who were busily continuing a school tradition.
Every December, Houserville fifth graders stage the Arts & Crafts and Caring Fair, a festive blend of commerce and charity. Participants make inexpensive craft items to sell to younger grades, then choose an organization to donate some or all of the proceeds. To pay the “rent” for setting up shop at the fair, the students bring canned goods for the State College Food Bank.
At this year’s fair, Olivia Smith brought 40 brightly colored fleece pillows she sewed herself. With her leftover fabric, she created cat toys, attaching strips to sticks to add another offering.
“It took a while, and it took a lot of money, but it was worth it,” she said.
As her beneficiaries, Smith picked the Penn State Children’s Hospital and the local Pets Come First animal shelter.
“I chose those two because first of all, the shelter is helping animals. I know they need stuff to keep them alive,” Smith said. “I chose the Children’s Hospital because I know they need help and they need a bunch of medicine to cure diseases.”
She was among the 48 fifth graders displaying their wares with hand-lettered signs and props such as little Christmas trees for hanging ornaments. The fair began 25 years ago when students wished to have an open market for selling homemade crafts.
“Seven years ago, we put the caring part into it,” fifth-grade teacher Linda Andrews said.
Nathan Alexander and Will Stewart demonstrated their empathy by making miniature catapults from Popsicle sticks, rubber bands and bottle caps — perfect for launching the tiny marshmallows included. At $2 or $3 each, all the 75 catapults sold.
Both had personal reasons to give back. Stewart chose the ALS Association because his grandfather has the disease. Alexander, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes this year, selected the American Diabetes Association.
“So people can be happy and maybe, eventually, they’ll have a cure for it,” he said.
Charity was personal for Kara Lin, too. Her “loom dragons” and “slime milkshakes” benefited the Ronald McDonald House in Danville because one of her twin sisters stayed there while the other was hospitalized after birth.
Everyone had a favorite cause. Out of their love for animals, Tenley Richards and Brianna McDonald sold marshmallow snowmen to help the Centre County PAWS shelter. Marshal Sharer and Andrew King made 53 pillows to support veterans through the Wounded Warrior Project. Thomas Stabley and Josh Fragin sold ornaments and tennis ball “candy creatures” for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Alexander Anorzhiebsky, who turned Scrabble letters and acorns into holiday magnets for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, said the fair had two goals.
“We can support people in need, and kids can get fun things for Christmas,” he said.
Librarian Brittany Snavely, one of the fair organizers, has children at Lemont Elementary, Houserville’s sister school for kindergarten to second grade. She loves what the fair teaches her daughters.
“We talk about how the fifth graders are doing this to help others,” Snavely said. “My daughters have shared how they, in turn, would like to pass along this type of kindness. In addition to the lessons of generosity this event provides, I also love that it allows my girls to see the creative endeavors and entrepreneurial spirit of students not that much older than themselves. They see the resourcefulness of classmates at Houserville and become inspired to create on their own. My oldest daughter couldn’t wait to go home and try sewing her own pillow, like the one she purchased at the fair for our dog!
Snavely enjoys working closely with teachers and students to plan and set up the fair, but the aftermath is even better.
“While the day of the event is great fun, the best part really happens after students tally up their dollars earned and begin drafting their letters to their charities of choice,” Snavely said. “These lessons in generosity and selflessness go a long way! Empowering students and helping them understand that their actions can be impactful, I believe, sticks with them for a long time.”
Photo by Nabil Mark/State College Area School District
