The most wonderful time of the year was just as wonderful at Monsignor Edward Pace High School with a week full of Christmas activities just before students took their finals.
The week started off with the Tykes Christmas Party on December 8, where Pace faculty and staff brought their young children to the school’s Administration Building for a night of family games, food, and fun. Children colored in Christmas cartoons, had their faces painted, and even got a visit from Santa.
On December 11, the Pace Fine Arts Department put on a show for a packed house in the Spartan Center with the Frozen Over Sing-Along. Dancers, thespians, and musicians from Pace’s Fine Arts Academies and classes performed as lyrics to songs from “Frozen” were displayed on a screen above the stage for the audience to sing along to.
To cap off the week on December 12, Pace students and staff packed a school bus with over 500 toys and headed to Miramar Fire Station #84 next to the NBC 6/Telemundo 51 studios to participate in NBC 6’s Caravan of Joy Toy Drive for the seventh straight year.
Outside in front of the fire station, principal Ana Garcia was interviewed along with Pace sophomore Pablo Pernia for Acceso Total on Telemundo 51 as they spoke about the tradition of Pace’s donations to the Caravan of Joy and how important it was to help those in need during the holiday season.
“It’s such an honor to be here helping the community,” said Garcia in her interview with Vargas. “We want to make sure that this is truly the spirit of Christmas. We want to make sure that every child will wake up Christmas morning and be able to celebrate in the joy of opening a gift and [know] that giving, as well as receiving, is wonderful during this very special time.”
All throughout the morning, Pace students pulled toys out of the bus to deliver them and the Pace choir sang Christmas carols for the TV cameras. After the interviews, students from NHS brought the toys into the NBC 6 lobby for the toys to be tallied and eventually delivered to children in South Florida for Christmas.
In addition to the donations made to the Caravan of Joy, Pace also donated toys to the Kevin Garcia Foundation and to Meals from the Heart, an organization run by Pace Class of 2013 alumna Monica Bustinza.