When Jared and Holden Dixon pulled out their violin and guitar to play Christmas music, it was not for the typical school Christmas production. Unity Christmas Academy students opted to skip the traditional Christmas pageant and spend the evening at local nursing and rehabilitation centers River Trace and Clara Manor.
“I did a lot of different things,” said Jared Dixon. “I played ‘Amazing Grace,’ we sang, we did give them things. We had little hearts we stuffed with anything we could get.”
Dixon said he saw a lot of familiar faces at the nursing homes and got to catch up with friends of his grandparents.
Overall, Dixon said, he would much rather do the service project than a Christmas pageant.
“It takes a lot less time,” said the eighth-grader.
Fourth-grader Madison Nay said she would love to visit the nursing homes again because it made the residents so happy.
“Because they maybe don’t got anybody to see them,” she said. “Which is really sad because everybody should treated fairly.”
Nay said she read scriptures to those she visited.
“It was fun serving God to others, sharing God’s love,” she said.
UCA Administrator Kristie Warren said every student participated in the service project. Students were told they were there to spread Christmas cheer, but they were not given any specific instructions.
One example of the initiative she saw was a group of second-graders, including Evan Waters and Ragan Harris, who went caroling down the halls of River Trace.
“They did that on their own,” Warren said. “I was just impressed to see how the students responded.”