Superintendent Mario Contini Just when you thought they weren’t looking, we find that the students in our district, kindergarten through high school, are modeling the good deeds of the extraordinary adults around them— parents, family members, teachers, neighbors and others—by finding creative and meaningful ways to reach out to those in need, especially during the holidays.

Below are just a few of many examples of the giving spirit of our students, working in conjunction with the adults who have influenced them.

Students have supported:

•Manna, Toys for Tots, clothing and groceries to families in need.

•Free vision exams and glasses for children.

•Shoes for children in need through the “Shoes that Fit” program.

•Celebrating the birthday of a homeless former student as a special Christmas gift.

•Working with private donors to adopt families for Christmas.

•Book donations led by two students for Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

•Food and other resources to Third World families through Heifer International.

•Gifts for Casa Pacifica.

•Collections for soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq (coffee, candy, thank-you cards and letters, “White Socks and Flip Flops” for hospital stays, Operation Gratitude beanie baby collection, Builders Club Santa Sacks of food, CDs, DVDs).

•Bucks for Bukasa, an African village, for water purification, medical supplies, building a school.

•Pennies for patients with lymphoma and leukemia.

•Students supplying Secret Santa gifts for 265 students in need in Ventura County.

•Student council-sponsored lunchtime card-making for Mary Health of the Sick.

•Students making placemats for Meals on Wheels.

•Gift baskets for families in need.

•Support for Ventura County FOOD Share.

•Large moving van filled with blankets and apparel (Project Blankie for the Los Angeles Mission.)

•Support for the Giving Tree for foster children and children in transitional housing.

•Donation of 150 turkeys and 133 bags of food to families in need during Thanksgiving.

Parents, family members, teachers, neighbors and others— you’ve done a great job of helping our children learn the joy and absolute necessity of giving to those less fortunate. They have huge hearts and are contributing to peace on earth through their many good deeds, locally and globally. They learn from us, but we can also learn from them.

For more details, please visit www.conejo.k12.ca.us.

On behalf of the board of education and the employees of Conejo Valley Unified School District, have the best of the holidays and a wonderful New Year.

Contini is superintendent of Conejo Valley Unified School District.