‘L’ is for Santa and lemonade

“Children can’t be sad at Christmas.”
That was the assessment of young Caroline Mailhot, a pre-kindergarten-4 student at Venerini Academy. The look of sadness on her face spoke of her genuine concern for children whom she had never met.
“Besides this is fun!” added some of her classmates. “We get to be the boss and play with the big kids.”
So that’s why they’d set up a lemonade stand in winter! To raise money for the Telegram & Gazette Santa Fund to provide Christmas gifts for less fortunate children.
It started this way.
In the pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds, each week of the school year is represented by a letter of the alphabet. The children think of words that contain that sound. Last year during the “L” week, the word “lemonade” was introduced.
Later that day, Judy Rawan and her assistant Kelley Balkus told the students about children whose Christmas might not be as joyous as theirs. The students were quite sad to learn that some might not have presents. Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students are all about sharing, and they wondered how they might help. Since it was “L” week, Mrs. Balkus suggested that they sell lemonade to raise money for the T & G Santa. And so a tradition was born. (“L” is for Santa!)
This year, the children were excited to continue the tradition. They decorated the stand, prepared and served the lemonade, and experimented in making change. (A small glass cost 25 cents; a large glass 50 cents.)
The children took turns with each aspect of the project. Each got to interact with the older children, faculty and staff, many of whom were extra generous. Student J. Dylan Christie was a banker and thanked everyone who contributed. (Learning how to be polite is another of the pre-k essentials!)
When the pre-kindergarteners counted the money, with their teacher’s help, they were thrilled to discover that they had earned $110 to help Santa make less fortunate children more happy at Christmas.

– Information for this story provided by Paul Jourcin, Admissions Team member, Venerini Academy