Robbinsdale Middle School Launches Operation Gift Bag
Robbinsdale Middle School spread a little Christmas cheer with the continued rollout of Operation Gift Bag.
“We have been working on this since mid-November. It was an original idea from a sixth grade team meeting. We really wanted to find a way to connect with our kids since we’ve been distance learning since the very beginning. So most of us have never met our kids in person,” said Stacy Kinsella, Robbinsdale Middle School Spanish teacher.
The idea started with providing backpacks for the 230 members of the sixth grade class, but has now expanded to the seventh and eighth as well. The bag contains school supplies, art supplies and snacks.
Staff saw it as an opportunity to provide a momentary face-to-face connection in an impersonal school year.
“We just wanted to get a chance to lay eyes on our children. Because we haven’t seen them since last March. And then our sixth graders, we’ve never seen them in person,” said Shirrie Jackson, school principal at Robbinsdale Middle School.
“This wouldn’t have been possible without the Kids in Need Foundation,” said Kinsella.
The Twin Cities based organization provided all the bags and materials. Kinsella said she hopes to make Operation Gift Bag a yearly event.
