Yes, they CAN! Central High students collect, donate food

Thanks to the hard work by the students at Shelbyville Central High School, the Grinch CAN not steal Christmas.

That was the motto for this year's SCHA Great Canned Food Drive, which culminated Friday morning with the donation of almost 20,000 food items to Good Samaritan.

The project to collect food for Good Sam began in January 1983, said Miriam Pietkiewicz, an advisor and teacher at the school. Although she has been out for medical reasons, she came back Friday to participate in one of her favorite school year activities.

"We did it twice in 1983, January and December, and we've done it once a year ever since. I've been involved for 25 years," she said.

Serious fun

For weeks the students have been collecting cans and boxes of non-perishable food items, from green beans to ramen noodles. The project, designed not only to help the community but teach compassion and civic responsibility to the students, is also a lot of fun. The night before the presentation, members of each student class at SCHS gather in the gym from 6 to 9 p.m. and arrange that food for presentation, creating murals and patterns out of cans, boxes and bags.

This year, naturally, the images had a Seussian flair. The Grinch, stuck in a can, was on one side, and a sleigh on the other, with a leaning Christmas tree in the middle. Behind the display was a banner reading " The Grinch CAN Not Steal Christmas."

"The tree was supposed to be our first 3-D display," said Pietkiewicz. "But they called me at home and said it just wasn't working out. Every year, something doesn't quite work out the way it was supposed to and they are so creative, they always find a way to get it done."

The presidents of each class spoke, as did the president of the student council, Bailie Martin, who emceed the event. She opened the presentation by quoting passages from Dr. Seuss's famous book, and finishing with her own words to the student body:

"Your willingness to give has enriched this community."

Changing the world

The class presidents' messages shared a common theme: You have made a difference.

Zach Thompson, president of the senior class, called out "Good morning" to the students in the bleachers.

"Good morning?" he said again. "This really is a great morning!

"Since we have changed our community, we have changed the world," he added. "Now we have a standard. Now, you can look back and know the difference between a normal morning and a truly great morning."

The 10 students who brought in the most food were recognized. They were: Aleck James, 248 cans; Holt Parsons, 276 cans; Kelsie Smith, 312 cans; Scott Feldhaus and Blake Feldhaus, tied with 354 cans each; Joey Jackson, 359 cans; Kayla Feldhaus, 360 cans; Kaylyn Attig, 393.5 cans; Shelby Johnson, 550 cans; and the top donor of all, Corey Smith, with 1,248 cans.

The seniors were the top class in the numbers of donations with 6,921 cans brought in. Second place went to the sophomores, who had 4,784. The freshmen brought in 4,286 and the juniors, 3,553.

Volunteers who helped count and move the food as it came in during the drive were also recognized: Heather Canonico, Nick Kanjanabout, Taylor Bearden, Alix Harwell, Shelby Johnson, Maggie Burton, Riley Leftrick, Alicia Bates, and the boys soccer team.

Teacher honored

Another tradition at the annual event since 1988 has been the Giving Tree award.

"The Giving Tree award is presented to a SCHS faculty or staff members that has made an outstanding contribution to the school," said student Martha Pitner, who presented the award, a copy of Dr. Seuss's book "The Giving Tree," to teacher Kim Waterson.

"Most of us don't realize how much she really does and most students don't see it," said Pitner. "She is always there to fix our mistakes and to help us in any way to make our yearbook pages look great."