The kindergarten and first-grade students at Wing Elementary School in Islip celebrated their December Character Education Town Meeting with a focus on thankfulness and giving. During the meeting, school social worker Allison Siegel read The Mitten Tree, which tells the story of a woman who knitted mittens for children she passed at a bus stop who did not have any mittens. To go along with the theme of the book, the students created a class mitten using construction paper and described what they would give to their cafeteria monitors to thank them for their hard work.

“Although the children talked a lot about how much they love getting presents during the holidays, they also learned about the importance and fun of giving to others,” explained Ms. Siegel. “They came to realize that giving can be just as special!”