It’s that time of year again! The holidays are upon us and with them comes a Waltham tradition: Hawks for the Holidays. Hawks for the Holidays is a wonderful event which allows Waltham High School students to give back to their community and help families in need.
The event has become a holiday tradition, this being the 42nd event since it all began years ago at a kitchen table here in Waltham, on Plympton Street, in 1984. At that kitchen table two legends of Waltham education were looking for an opportunity to bring a service program to Waltham High School. These two men were Mr. Steve Goodwin, the former director of History and Social Studies, and Dr. Cox, who was a longtime teacher in the history department, taught for nearly 50 years in Waltham Public Schools and just retired last year. These two were the directors of the National Honors Society and Student Council at the time.
As they were brainstorming about things they could do to give back to the community at that kitchen table, Mr. Goodwin’s wife came into the room and heard them talking. Mrs. Goodwin told them about how she knew of a girl scout troop that had a program where they had been matched with a Waltham family that they were going to provide holiday gifts for. And that was the moment that became the spark.
Mr. Goodwin and Dr. Cox both reached out to contacts they had in the Waltham community. A plan began to form and what was then called Student Santa was born.
In its first 40 years, the program was known as Student Santa. Last year when we moved to the new building, the name was updated to Hawks for the Holidays. But the program, and its values, are all still the same.
The program has been through a lot over the years, surviving the pandemic and other challenges, “When the pandemic was going on and it was active we didn’t even have kids in the school building. How do you do Hawks for the Holidays? Waltham did it. Right now, we find that the economy’s not great. There’s a lot of people that are hurting right now. How do we do Hawks for the Holidays? Waltham did it,” said Derek Vandegrift, director of History and Social studies, grades 6 through 12 and coordinator of Hawks for the Holidays for the past 12 years, “There’s a weird phrase I often say to folks, ‘Waltham does Waltham’, or ‘Waltham did Waltham’ after the fact. It’s an amazing, amazing place, and I’ve always just felt privileged to just be a part of it. The local nature of Hawks for the Holidays, knowing that our students here in Waltham are directly helping children right here in Waltham. I mean, it’s an amazing thing.”
So how does Hawks for the Holidays work?
First each homeroom in WHS gets assigned a child in need. Each sports team, club, and student organization also gets an assignment. These assignments provide the age and gender of the child to help students better pick out presents that these kids would enjoy.
But they are not the only ones who get assignments.
“Once you start doing those matches, you match about half the kids on the list through our advisories and our student clubs and organizations. The other half start to be matched to individuals, all sorts of different groups that step up,” said Mr. Vandegrift. “Individual students have reached out. They say their family would like to be matched. They spread the word through their family and friends and suddenly an aunt or an uncle that went to Waltham High is reaching out. Former students call me. We have some businesses in the community that reach out, they hear about it and they want to help out. And that’s how the list gets matched.”
These outside individuals handle getting presents separately. However, focusing on the groups inside the school there is a different process. Students bring in money over the course of a few weeks to donate to the homeroom or group they are a part of. This money is then taken by student representatives from each assignment and they go out and buy gifts with the money collected. These gifts are brought to WHS the morning before the Hawks for the Holidays assembly and wrapped.
After the gifts are wrapped the students get a break from their school day. The WHS community comes together over the course of two assemblies, this year on Monday, December 22nd. These assemblies are the same but are repeated to accommodate the entire WHS community because the large scale of this wonderful community can not all fit into one assembly.
These students get to watch performances by many different members of the WHS community. This year the band, orchestra, vocal programs, and adapted performance students performed. There was also a dance number this year, which is a first. Additionally a couple special characters made an appearance.
The stage is decorated with all the wrapped gifts, forming a mountain that makes people’s jaws drop. Students get to enjoy the sight and appreciate all the work and dedication that was put into it. And there is a lot of work put into the event.
“I love to get a chance to work with our National Honor Society or student council, or class officers, and just the students of Waltham High, and see how everybody steps up. They’re showing up in great numbers and doing this work, quietly, without fanfare. They’re doing it because they want to be there. And whenever we need something for the program, I barely have to ask,” said Mr. Vandegrift. “I think that it’s a reminder of the power of community when you get in that room and you see that stage filled with all those gifts that have been collected, destined for kids right here in Waltham. Not every Waltham High school student gets to see the recipients. And they don’t need to. That’s kind of the point of doing good.”
This assembly is a demonstration of the goodness in the school, in each of the students. It shows how much generosity the people in our community have provided and it also gets people thinking about the people who do need help and of other ways they can give back to the community. It’s truly a beautiful and uplifting thing to see and is a favorite event of many students and staff members alike.
Each person has their favorite part and has their own meaning for Hawks for the Holidays. Many were happy to share their experience with the event:
- Ms. Lopes (WHS English teacher) – “I absolutely love the spirit, the kids are happy. They feel good about doing something good, it’s just all around a good vibe in the building. What I like about it, too, is the kids take control of it. It’s organized by adults, but the students take charge of the whole thing and it’s just nice to see them come together and get excited and do that.”
- Nina Joannidis (WHS Junior) – “My favorite part is just getting all the gifts for the kids and seeing how many gifts we raised for all the kids. It makes me feel so happy for all of them and good that we do that. Just getting to be able to provide for the families that can’t get gifts for Christmas. To me, it means, just being able to support the families that need help during holidays and helping all the kids that don’t have gifts.”
- Mrs. Perna (WHS English teacher) – “I think my favorite part is just that like this whole day, people are just happy, the mood in this whole school is just joyful and it’s all about giving back and that brings people happiness and I think that’s a nice idea for this time of year. It’s like the most quintessential Waltham tradition. I don’t think any other school does something like this. And throughout the years, we’ve had ebbs and flows but every year it comes through and it’s just like such an amazing thing.”
- Gavin Armstrong (WHS Senior) – “I would say my favorite part about it is helping kids around the city. It’s nice to see everyone come together to support that cause and to be able to perform for it as well is always nice. It’s sort of a symbol of how Waltham can be generous to our own community and how we can make things better for everyone as a whole.”
- Ms. Burke (WHS PE teacher) – “My favorite part is this idea of coming together for the greater good, this idea of bringing the community together for the greater good of others. Hawks for the Holidays is special, there’s a positivity around it and this idea of coming together for something that’s bigger than yourself and having the spirit of empathy and compassion. I think it has so many positive pieces rolled into one.”
For some in the WHS community the event is very emotional and personal, bringing them to a hard time in their own life, “We’ll have Waltham High School students that are sitting in that assembly and it hits them,” Mr. Vandegrift said, “They think back to a time in their life where it was a little tough for their family and they weren’t sure how their parents were going to figure things out during the holidays and somehow it happened. Well, it might have had something to do with Hawks for the Holidays. And by the way, a lot of those students end up becoming some of the most generous contributors.”
After the assembly is over the gifts are taken to a drop-off location where families pick up the gifts. Some student volunteers get to attend and distribute these gifts to the families of the child they are for.
The program has grown so much since the beginning. The first year approximately 40 kids were matched. This year, about 325 children were matched. This was something Mr. Goodwin and Dr. Cox never could have imagined when this program first began.
“On he Assembly day, that year, they brought all the gifts in, and they brought them over to the old guidance office at the old high school. They lined them up across the room, and they looked and they were like, ‘oh my goodness, it will never be bigger than this, right?’” said Mr. Vandegrift. “And now, it’s grown from 40 to 325. Again, it gives you a sense of the power that’s right here in this community, the good we can all do together. That’s amazing.”
And there is a large thanks from the community for this. These families reach out and tell about the tremendous difference that Waltham High School students make. These families are so gracious at showing their appreciation for what the community has done and it’s beautiful to see and to hear about.
The organizers and leaders of this program are very thankful too for all the effort the community put into the event. For an event like this, especially on this scale, so much assistance, participation, and contribution is needed and the Waltham community does not lack in that department.
“The most important thing I have to stress is this: thank you. This is a community effort. There’s no way this happens without the support of a tremendous community. Thank you to everybody who did something that contributed to the effort because that’s how we get there,” said Mr. Vandegrift. “If you gave a dollar to your advisory, if you helped to wrap, if you showed up and you volunteered, if you performed at the assembly, if your family was matched with a kid, if you spread the word that this was going on, if you’re one of the students who get to travel over to our drop off and distribution points at the end of the day and actually get to see the recipients pick up. Just, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
And so as the children dive into their presents, and the families are overwhelmed by the power of the WHS community, plans for next year will undoubtedly be on the horizon. As the holiday season is in full swing, we should all take a moment to appreciate what we have, and be thankful. We should give back and delve in community and togetherness. And I hope that Hawks for the Holidays will continue for many years, Waltham doing Waltham and giving back to the community. Happy Holidays!
