Students at elementary school receive early Christmas surprise

They all rip through the wrapping paper, all except kindergartner Jorge Yanac.

He just holds on to his Christmas gift bag, not even lifting a corner of the tissue paper to peek inside.

If Jorge gives in to temptation, he may have nothing to open Dec. 25.

“A lot of these kids absolutely won’t receive Christmas gifts,” says Wendell Williams Elementary School Principal Brenda McKinney on Thursday morning, minutes before Jorge and a hundred other students enter the cafeteria for an assembly that is actually a surprise visit from Santa.

More than 94 percent of the school’s 400 students live in poverty and qualify for free or reduced lunch. That includes Jorge, who lives with his parents, uncle and grandparents. His dad used to work in construction, but the job shortage has forced him to take a job in a restaurant and a 50 percent pay cut, says the boy’s uncle, also named Jorge Yanac, while snapping photos of his smiling nephew hugging his gift.

“He’s happy, huh?” the uncle says.

Over Thursday and Friday, all 400 students were given gifts — new tennis shoes and socks — and a stocking full of goodies, provided by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

School staff played a game of shoe-size comparisons in the weeks leading up to Christmas break, so the Review-Journal could buy shoes that fit for each child.

It’s not unusual for Clark County businesses and their employees to turn into elves for the holidays, says Beverly Mason, assistant coordinator of Clark County School District’s School-Community Partnership Program.

The program has matched 230 volunteering businesses with 155 needy schools, where at least half the students qualify for free or reduced lunches because of their families’ low income.

Businesses provide school supplies, clothes and more year-round. But the holiday season is when all these businesses make sure to give a little more, often calling Santa to make an appearance, she says.

Students need it now more than ever, Mason says. The number of qualifying schools jumped from 90 in 2009-10 to 155 this year.

And students are excited to receive not only toys but also toothbrushes, shampoo, blankets and coats.

“They’re so excited to have their own new coat, not a hand-me-down,” Mason says. “They’ve never had that before.”

Even in a district with high poverty and 5,000 homeless students, the students who have little or nothing are still generous, Mason says.

She has seen it at nearby Booker Elementary School, where 100 percent of the students live in poverty. There, students received bicycles, but one girl didn’t want to keep hers. She wanted to give it to her cousin.

That generosity was also evident at Williams on Thursday and Friday, where first-grader Paris Triplett, who “loves presents,” suggested giving her gift away because others need new shoes more than she does.

“But I think I’m more touched by the parents having the relief,” Mason says.

Parents at Wendell Williams have been in need of relief since Principal McKinney started working there in 2004. This is the first time her students have been adopted by a business and handed Christmas gifts.

“I just can’t wait to see their faces,” she says while setting up for the assembly. “I’m just trying to keep it together, emotionally.”

Review-Journal Publisher Bob Brown promised to continue to support the school, near J Street and Washington Avenue.

“We’re your neighbors,” he says at the Friday assembly. “And neighbors should know each other, be kind and share. I want you to know we’re here.”

But neither the Review-Journal or school can be there for students during the holiday break.

“I’m actually terrified of the two-week break,” says McKinney, noting that students won’t be able to eat breakfast and lunch at school as they normally do. “These are often their only substantial meals.”

As for Jorge’s unusual patience in opening his gifts, he’s still a kid. With his friends pleading, “Open it, open it,” he flings the tissue paper into the air and pulls out a pair of shiny blue Starters.

Contact reporter Trevon Milliard at
tmilliard@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.