How St. Andrew’s Brought Joy to Burks Elementary’s Field Day with Snowie Shaved Ice
Hi Friends,
Last week was Field Day at Burks Elementary School. And this year, Field Day had Snowie!
But first, a little background! St. Andrew’s has supported Burks, located on the east side of McKinney, for many years. Burks is a Title I school, which means that a significant percentage of its students qualify for free lunch. This year, a high percentage of the students are also homeless and living in poverty. They are also happy, excited to attend school each day, and deeply appreciative of what they have. The teachers at Burks possess huge hearts and a genuine passion for teaching and supporting their students. It truly is a special place!
For many years now, St. Andrew’s has helped out at Field Day by providing popsicles for all the students. The responsibility for the rest of the Field Day celebrations falls largely on the teachers, because Burks does not have a strong PTA to assist. They work hard to make this day special.
Last year, while driving around McKinney and observing the Field Day activities at the elementary schools in and around Stonebridge Ranch, I was amazed. There were multiple bounce houses, water slides, ice cream trucks—everything you could imagine! While the children at Burks were thrilled with our popsicles and the games organized by their teachers, I couldn’t help but feel a little bummed they didn’t get all the same crazy Field Day fun.
This year, thanks to a generous donation in memory of Beverly Black, a former teacher, St. Andrew's was able to provide more than popsicles. We hired a Snowie, the shaved ice to go truck. I wish you all could have witnessed the smiles and excitement on the faces of both the children and the teachers as they hit the playground and saw the truck!
Everyone expressed their gratitude, with a few even saying "bless you!" They were all respectful while waiting in line to choose their flavors, and the teachers continued to talk about how wonderful the day was on Monday!
We felt Beverly’s presence that day and knew she was smiling down on all those beautiful children!
Your generosity to our Hands&Feet ministry makes days like this possible! Thank you! If you would like to learn more about Burks or any of our Hands&Feet partners, please feel free to reach out to me: lisao@standrewsmckinney.org.
Peace,
Lisa
