TCCHS baseball team gives back with ‘Jingle Mingle’

Published 1:49 pm Thursday, December 28, 2017

THOMASVILLE — Much laughter was had, and new friendships were made when two groups of high school students came together for a holiday shindig.

Members of Thomas County Central High School’s baseball team held a festive “Jingle Mingle” with two special need classrooms Dec. 13. Players formed small groups and bought gifts from a “wish list” provided by students with disabilities in Todd Wilson and Melody Garland’s special education classrooms.

“The boys enjoyed getting to present the students with their gifts while having small refreshments,” event co-organizer and TCCHS baseball coach Ryan Strickland said. “I was proud of how the guys really tried to interact with the students with disabilities.”

The mingle’s focus was to help provide positive social interactions amongst general and special education students while also allowing the baseball players to give back to others during the holidays.

Strickland said his wife Lauren, who is a speech-language pathologist at TCCHS, and some of the school’s special education teachers presented the idea to him. He then spoke with his players about the idea and they were receptive to it.

“We wanted the players to participate so that they understand the true meaning of Christmas and what it means to give back,” Strickland said. “It also allowed them an opportunity to interact with students in our school that they may not know. These guys are a great group of young men, and as student athletes, they often serve as role models for other students. I know from talking to some of the guys that they really enjoyed the event and enjoyed being able to give back.”

Teacher Melody Garland said her students don’t get the opportunity to interact with general education students every day, so this mingle was an excellent chance for them to do so.

“I truly enjoy when students want to do things for our class,” Garland said. “Every student benefits from events such as this. It also raises awareness for students who may not have interactions with those that have disabilities.”

The best part of the event for the players involved was watching their fellow students open their gifts. Many participants interviewed felt they made new friends.

“My favorite part of the experience was seeing the kids having a good time and seeing the smiles on their faces when they opened the gifts,” junior Luke Benton said.

Senior Baily Green dressed as a snowman. He wanted to take part in the activity because he enjoys making other people happy, even if that is just by putting a smile on someone’s face.

“Activities like these are important to me because you get the opportunity to make lots of people very happy,” Green said. “Fulfilling some of the wishes of my fellow students was unique. It was great and made me think what all of us could do every day to make someone’s life just that much better. My favorite part was … seeing everyone tearing open their gifts and seeing how excited they were.”

Sophomore Shane Stephenson said activities like this one remind participants how grateful they should be for what they have in their lives and that caring for others goes a long way. He adds that whenever an opportunity to do something to make someone else’s Christmas more special arises, “you should always do it.”

“To fulfill the wishes of some of my fellow students is one of the best feelings in the world, knowing that those kids are going to go throughout the day happy because of the new friends that they made and the presents that they received,” he said. “Seeing the look on those kids’ faces when they opened those presents and making friendships with those kids were the best experiences I had.”

Junior RJ Delaney thought participating in the event would be something good to do for other kids.

“I enjoyed watching them open their presents and seeing how happy it made them,” Delaney said. “It made me feel like I really made a difference to them. Activities like this are important because it shows how much we can do for the students in our school. Other students should partake in more activities like this, and it would really change the atmosphere at our school and in our community.”

Junior Carson Odom dressed as Santa Claus.

“I am blessed to be healthy and have parents with a steady income,” Odom said. “It makes me feel good to see kids in need get fulfilled with something. My favorite part was seeing the excitement on the kids’ faces when they got a gift to call their own.”

Odom feels it is the responsibility of persons who are healthy and successful to give back to in need people. One way fellow students can do so is through activities like the “Jingle Mingle.”

“It is good for the heart,” Odom said.

Special need student Alasia Caldwell says having Christmas with her classmates brought joy to her and she thanks everyone for her presents (jewelry and a shirt) and the fun party. Her favorite part of the mingle was taking pictures and all the laughter.

“We got to laugh a lot, and everyone got presents,” Caldwell said. “No one was sad.”

Student Mary Hill had a great time. She got a shirt and a CD by her favorite singer, Luke Bryan.

“I was happy to share Christmas with my friends in my class,” she said. “We didn’t know the baseball team was our friend ‘til the party. Everyone is so happy.”

Support teacher Terrie Barnes says the word amazing is an understatement to describe the kind gesture shown.

“Our students were amazed and beyond thankful for the fellowship and presents,” she said. “We knew this event would be a blessing. Little did we know just how big of a blessing it would be to our students. The event lifted every one of our students’ esteem. The laughter from all was such a delight. Everyone was ecstatic about their gifts. Our students have such big, giving/caring hearts. They are always looking for ways to help others and don’t expect anything in return. So, when they are showered with care, they blossom like flowers on a spring day.”

Strickland thanks his baseball families for their support and hopes this event can continue for years to come.

“I know there were some parents who went above and beyond to make sure that they were able to provide the item(s) on their student’s wish list,” he said. “One of the best parts of the event was after it was over, the students went back to their classroom and immediately wanted to change into the clothes/shirts that were given to them. The smiles on their faces while opening the gifts and realizing that there was a present with their name on it was priceless.”