Christmas spirit fills the halls of one Shoals school
MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. (WAFF) - Coronavirus has taken a lot from people this year.
Perhaps those missing out the most are young school school students.
Not only are they trying to learn during a pandemic, but all the things they’ve looked forward to this school year have been canceled.
That’s why teachers and parents at one school in the Shoals wanted to make this Christmas a little brighter.
Walking down the hallways of McBride Elementary School in Muscle Shoals, the sights and sounds of Christmas are everywhere.
Principal Britney Schneider knows her students deserve some holiday cheer. The pandemic has taken away everything they’ve been looking forward to.
“We’ve had to make some unfortunate calls. We’ve had to cancel assemblies, we’ve had to cancel parties, school dances, and class field trips, it’s been a sad year,” said Schneider.
That’s when teachers and parents decided to put their creativity to work and turn the school into a winter wonderland.
“I only had a little bit of knowledge they were putting this together,” Schneider said. “I walked in and saw all of these teachers working so hard along with our amazing PTO mom’s to make something magical happen for these kids. This is a way for us to show them that magic can exist. COVID has been a lot like the Grinch lately, but like the Grinch, COVID can’t stop Christmas from coming.”
It all came together — as a surprise to students. It was a holiday wish many were worried might not come true.
“We haven’t been able to do a lot because of COVID-19, so this is like really cool how they could decorate our halls,” says one 5th grader from McBride Elementary.
“I was surprised. I wouldn’t expect this because it’s been so hard because of COVID-19. It was very thoughtful of them,” added another student.
All of this was accomplished in just one short weekend.
Teachers say it’s their gift to students for rolling with the punches during a difficult first half of the school year.
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