COPPELL, Texas — High schoolers in Coppell welcomed elementary students to their campus on Wednesday to help with a very important project: writing letters to Santa.
"It looks more like a mall to me because there's so much room," 7-year-old Cottonwood Elementary student Saahir said, when he arrived at Coppell High School.
He was among the kindergarten through 2nd grade students who made the annual trek to Coppell High to be mentored by sophomores in a Christmas-wish writing assignment.
"One year my friend went downstairs and Santa was there," a student named Grace told a group of high schoolers. "And guess what? He had a bag of coal."
But the stories of and beliefs in Santa aren't the object here. The traditional collaboration is about friendship, mentoring and improving writing skills.
"Their spelling is actually pretty good. It's astonishing," said Coppell sophomore Pari Sharma. "They don't need a lot of help."
"Oh, it is so neat. It is so neat how much they shine," said Coppell High English teacher Carla Martinez, commenting on the benefit to both the elementary and high school students.
Her daughter Nora was one of the elementary students who took part in the letter writing event.
The students write the letters to Santa, or write them to their parents. Either way, friendships and better penmanship are born.
"It's been a really fun experience," Coppell student Pari Sharma added. "And I'm pretty sure the first graders loved it too, because I definitely loved it. And it's been nice getting into the holiday spirit."
But as the students shared their handwritten letters, asking for things like American Girl dolls, ballet outfits and Polly Pocket backpacks, 7-year-old Saahir had a more lucrative request.
"Dear Santa," he said reading his letter. "Can I have a McLaren?"
We'll leave it to Santa, or Saahir's parents, to decide if he's been good enough this year for a $200,000 sports car.