It’s getting to that time of the year again, the annual Day of Giving.

This is the day at Bellwood-Antis High School where everyone starts to get in the festive mood in preparation for Thanksgiving. It’s held on the day students leave for Thanksgiving break and involves students signing up to perform community service at different locations inside the school and out.

Each student can pick a festive or helpful activity to participate in for the day. Freshman can sign up outside Mr. Naylor’s room; Sophomores can sign up outside Mr. McNaul’s room; Juniors can sign up outside Mrs. Stinson’s; Seniors can sign up across from Mr. Carr’s room.

Students can also choose to decorate teachers’ doors for Christmas as part of a door decorating contest.

The first Day of Giving took place in 2019 and it has been a staple in the Bellwood-Antis School District ever since.

The brains of this operation, Mrs. Ali Stinson, said the Day of Giving and door decorating contest are wonderful ways to kick off the holiday season. 

“Our students get to spend time helping others both in school and in the community,” she said.

Bellwood has created many partnerships with the BA Library, The Door (helping with Thanksgiving dinner prep), Antis Township Manager, Doug Brown and Blair County Conservation (Planting trees and cleaning in the community park), Graystone-Bellemeade (helping residents make blankets), St. Vincent DePaul (helping with Thanksgiving prep), and Hometown Market (Mini-Thon canning). 

Inside of the school, students have the option to help decorate the hallways/lockers/common areas of the school, along with paint cafeteria windows with festive themes, make cards for patients at the VA hospital, children’s hospitals, and residents at Graystone, and bake cookies and brownies for various Thanksgiving dinners. 

Door decorating is one of the biggest events of the day. The contest is sponsored by Yearbook.  This annual event allows teams of 4-5 students to choose a teachers door, come up with a theme, and decorate the door during the morning of the Day of Giving.  Students get to showcase their ability to work together to build a creative display for the holidays and staff members then vote for their top 5 doors. 

Those winners will get Chick-Fil-A for lunch before Christmas break. The annual Door Decorating Contest has been a staple for the Day of Giving since 2019. Last year our victors were Chloe Stoltzfus and Olivia Rishel.

“It is truly amazing to watch the emptiness of the hallways come alive with the spirit of joy. I am so grateful for our community, students and factuality that help make this day a special one every single year,” said Mrs. Stinson.