By GLYNIS HART
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CLAREMONT – Second grader Eva Knowlton was thinking about Christmas in July.
Like a lot of kids in her grade, she liked to order something from the Scholastic book flyer, but she noticed not all of her classmates ordered something.
“She asked me if her friends couldn’t afford a book, what happened at Christmas,” said her mother, Rachel Naugler. “She felt said that fellow students couldn’t get books from the book flyer that goes home.”
Eva decided to do start a lemonade stand. Enlisting the help of her brother, Paxton, a kindergarten student, she set up a card table in the family’s yard. The kids told every customer that they were raising money for Bluff Elementary School. Stepdad Jason Naugler stepped in with a wooden lemonade stand, made for them to be able to operate a real business.
“Her goal was to get $100 so she could get each students a couple of books and her class room a few books on accepting people for who they are, and being kind,” said Rachel. Over three weekends, Eva ran the lemonade stand five hours a day and reached her goal.
Beach weather is long past, but Eva and her family are finishing up the book project. With the money the kids raised from the lemonade stand, they were able to buy two books for each student in her class and a few for the classroom.
The kids hand wrote notes, like “You’re special,” “You’re important,” “You’re kind” in each of the books to remind everyone they are unique and that they matter.
“One of the things I not only wanted my kids to learn, but live, was that kindness is needed everywhere and always. We practice ways to be kind every day, at school, in our community, in our home and celebrate ways to help others remember that they are cared about,” said Rachel. “After hard work, determination and loads of wrapping paper, all 70 books are wrapped and ready to remind their peers that they matter. We couldn’t be more proud of Eva and Paxton for learning the Reason for the Season.”
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