This article was written by Matt Jerome, who teaches U.S. History and Leadership and LINK Crew at Pinckney Community High School in the Pinckney Community Schools District, located in Michigan. Matt is in his 25th year of teaching in the district, and his Leadership and LINK Crew students organized Operation Christmas Wishes during the 2025 holiday season.
At Pinckney Community High School (PCHS), kindness isn’t just something we talk about — it’s something our students live out every day. This holiday season, our Leadership and LINK Crew class is coming together to make a difference through a special project called Operation Christmas Wishes, in partnership with the Yoga Strong Foundation.
Through Operation Christmas Wishes, our students are adopting the Ford Early Learning Center and Beatty Early Learning Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan — combined these two schools serving approximately 375 children between the ages of 3 and 7. Many of these families face financial challenges, and our goal is to help ensure every child feels seen, supported, and celebrated this holiday season.
Each child will receive a warm winter hat, cozy gloves, and a special toy.
To make this possible, our students set an ambitious goal of raising $11,250 (that’s $30 per child) to cover all the gifts.
Our LINK Crew and Leadership students are leading the charge, demonstrating the power of two specific character strengths — kindness and leadership. We are proud of them for exceeding their goal, and are excited to keep the momentum going. Our class has organized and executed all of the following fundraisers:
As a Partner School for The Positivity Project (P2), we focus on developing the 24 character strengths that help students build positive relationships and strong communities. This initiative is a perfect example of those lessons in action — students taking what they’ve learned about kindness, gratitude, and leadership, and using it to make a real-world impact. We’re thankful for P2 for recognizing and supporting our students’ efforts, and for helping us amplify the spirit of kindness driving this project.
We invite our community, families, and friends to join us in spreading holiday joy. Every donation, big or small, helps us reach more children and share a little more light this season.
Together, we can make sure every child at Ford and Betty Early Learning Centers feels the warmth of kindness this holiday season.
At Pinckney Community Schools, we believe that leadership starts with compassion. When students step forward to serve others, they not only change the lives of those they help, but they also grow into stronger, more empathetic leaders themselves.