Jackson Hugus was excited but nervous to portray Santa Claus in his class play at Haine Elementary School.
The 7-year-old second-grader said he has performed on stage seven times, but playing the jolly old elf involved a lot more memorization than he was used to.
“For this play, it wasn't easy, because my lines are really long,” Jackson said.
He landed the lead role in Nancy Lintelman's second-grade class's performance of “Santa's Shopping Network.”
The message of the play is one Lintelman, who has spent 34 years teaching at Haine, stresses in her classroom every day.
“Change the world one act of kindness at a time,” she said.
Guests were asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy or game as the “price of admission,” to be donated to a local homeless shelter.
Even as young as they are, the students have a firm grasp on the significance of helping others, said Haine Elementary Principal Michelle Ellis.
“I think kids nowadays have a connection to the bigger world, and if that's guided purposefully like Mrs. Lintelman has done, they start seeing outside themselves and seeing how they can help the greater good and have a greater purpose,” Ellis said.
Maelee Ambrass, 7, who played a reindeer, said it's “pretty cool” that students get to perform and give back to their community.
“I enjoy doing this,” she said. “It's a good message.”
Students donned homemade costumes and performed before family and friends in the Haine Elementary School cafeteria on Dec. 18. With only a couple of weeks to prepare, the 23 second-graders learned several original songs. Each child had at least one line to say.
In “Santa's Shopping Network” Santa Claus decides to streamline the gift-request process by producing a TV shopping network. Instead of mailing Santa a list, children are supposed to call a toll-free number to tell his elf representatives the three things they want for Christmas.
When some kids begin calling the hotline to order extra gifts, Santa thinks they are trying to cheat the system.
He invites them to the North Pole to teach them a lesson but soon learns they were ordering extra gifts to give to children in homeless shelters.
Riley Polley, 7, who played Elf 2, said it feels good to be able to help others, but in addition to that, performing in the play is “just really fun.”
Rachel Farkas is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-779-6902 or rfarkas@tribweb.com.
