APW JSHS’s Holiday Bazaar Helps Students Find The Joy Of Giving

ALTMAR, PARISH, WILLIAMSTOWN – With Christmas just around the corner, many students at APW Junior-Senior High School have already completed their holiday shopping lists thanks to an elaborate project within the school.

Throughout the month of December, the school has been home to the Holiday Bazaar, a festive marketplace where students can find low-cost gifts for their loved ones.

The Bazaar is the result of a partnership between the school’s Future Business Leaders of America Club and the Rolling Rebels, a program that works to foster entrepreneurialism within the school’s special education department with a weekly coffee cart.

The bazaar itself is tucked into a classroom, where rows of tables display their wares and prices as carols play softly in the background. Shelves are stocked with clothes, décor, books, toys, games and even jewelry, all of it donated by staff and community members.

All proceeds of the bazaar go towards field trips and programs for the FBLA and Rolling Rebels, who set all of the store’s prices themselves. Students can visit during lunches or free periods, though entire classes have also visited collectively.

Though countless numbers of the school’s faculty and staff have assisted the project, most of the major work has been spearheaded by Amy DeJohn, the school’s business teacher and FBLA advisor, and Lisa Grenville, special education teacher and facilitator of the Rolling Rebels program.

Other classes within the special education department have provided wrapping services while school psychologist Tom Olson has been on hand to assist students with the stresses of handling such a sizeable production.

Grenville is a seasoned teacher but only became a member of the APW faculty this September. Her enthusiasm for the project has been infectious as she has greeted students in a red and green apron and pointed elf ears.

She happily recounted stories of students who had purchased gifts for their families only to return later in the day for a gift exchange with their friends. She also described a favorite substitute teacher who purchased a gift and informed her that the project had returned his “Christmas spirit” for the first time in a long while.

“In a culture of want, want, want,” explained Grenville, “our students are learning the joy of giving, which is great.”

While there is no word yet on whether the bazaar will return next year, no one can doubt the joy it has brought – and will bring – to so many.

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