SHS student/elf Ethan Ware works with a PreK student to create a snowman craft at the Millsaps North Pole Adventures.
Magic was in the air at the end of the semester as Santa's elves hosted Yellow Jacket pre-kindergarten students for a tour of their North Pole workshop. Providing a rare opportunity to showcase the inner workings of the world's most famous toy factory, the elves stationed at the Millsaps Career and Technology Center at Starkville High took a break from their busy holiday preparations to host the youngest Jackets for crafts, stories, hands-on experiences in snowman construction, and a visit to Santa's bustling mail room.
North Pole Adventures is an annual student-led Millsaps CTC event which sees Starkville High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) students drafted into Santa's elf service to lead a two-day learning experience for preschoolers. More than 230 four-year-olds from Emerson Preschool, Sudduth Elementary and West Elementary visited the Center and enjoyed six rotations of activities designed to provide early career exploration as well as an elf's helping of holiday cheer.
"North Pole Adventures gives our CTE students the opportunity to lead, serve and create Christmas magic for the preK students, while also introducing career awareness at an early age," said Dr. April Dill, Director of Career and Technical Education for the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District. "By hosting preK students from across our district, our CTE students took ownership of the event by planning, decorating, leading hands-on activities, and interacting with the littles."
Student ambassadors where heavily involved in the event and both Dill and SOCSD Work-based Learning Coordinator, Rob Fyke, spoke about the importance of giving high school students the opportunity to lead and express themselves in an event like this that allows the older and younger students to come together for learning.
Millsaps Ambassadors is a student group comprised of representatives from many of the CTE pathways available at SHS, and engages high schoolers as representatives and leaders in sharing with their peers, younger students and the broader community about learning opportunities available through the Millsaps programs.
"We're extremely proud of the way our ambassadors represented Millsaps and served our community," Fyke said. "Our Millsaps Ambassadors really brought the North Pole Adventures to life this year. They jumped into their roles as elves, guided each preschool class through the activities, and made sure teachers always knew what was coming next. They made the whole experience feel special for those little kids."
Although many of the preK Jackets left their North Pole experience with a desire to become Santa's elves themselves one day, they also received an early introduction into many of the career pathways students are able to pursue when they get to high school. SHS elves led their young guests through six activity rotations, and Santa Claus even made an appearance to oversee the workshop production and take photos with students.
Educator Preparation and Family Consumer classes led "Storytime" along with singing and dancing with "Snowflake" the Elf. Local author, Sara Lavender Burkhalter, visited the Millsaps workshop to read her children's book, Welding Santa's Sleigh, to students in the "Storytime" station. The book offers an introduction to the skill and career of welding – one of the 11 career and technical pathways offered at Millsaps – and each preK class received a copy of the book.
In an exclusive peek into Santa's Workshop, students visited the snowman construction laboratory where they saw CTE elves cut the wood for a snowman craft, and worked with them to add fingerprint faces and felt hats. The Millsaps Construction pathway partnered with FORGE for the activity. FORGE is a statewide nonprofit dedicated to building career readiness and expanding skilled-trades opportunities for Mississippi students, and the organization provided each preK student with a hard hat, safety glasses and coloring book.
Melinda Lowe, FORGE Executive Director, said the opportunity to provide hard hats and supplies for the North Pole event was a way to spark curiosity and excitement about construction and hands-on careers for students even at the preK level.
"FORGE was honored to be a part of Millsaps Career and Technology Center's North Pole Adventures for the second year, helping introduce even our youngest learners to the world of skilled trades in a fun and memorable way," Lowe said. "Watching students proudly wear their safety gear and eagerly identify an excavator on the coloring pages was a reminder of how early exposure can plant powerful seeds for future learning and career exploration."
PreK students also played "reindeer games" hosted by SHS Horticulture and Marketing classes, and visited the "Candy Cane Kitchen" with Health Sciences classes to make candy canes and reindeer food. They stopped by "Cookies and Milk" for snacks and holiday cartoons, as well as a few stories from the high schoolers on how they became elves.
The Agriculture and Natural Resources pathway and Digital Media Technology elves hosted a tour of "Santa's Mail Room", where they helped children write letters to Santa and mail them. They also helped students make a picture frame to take home and provided a photo opportunity with the man of the hour, Santa himself.
"Transforming the Center into the North Pole is a fun and magical experience for both our big kids and the littles," Dill said. "Events like these strengthen connections across our district and reinforce the importance of students learning from, leading and serving their community."
SOCSD Superintendent Dr. Tony McGee praised the effort by the Millsaps team and students for its creative approach to expanding opportunities.
"Christmas is such a special time for young children, and I'm proud of our CTE students and programs for how they have used the excitement of the season to provide learning experiences in such an innovative way," McGee said. "The more we can expose even our youngest students to these types of opportunities, the more they can begin to dream about what's possible for the future. And, nothing reflects the holidays more than big dreams. I think Santa would approve."
