Independent Claus: St. Jude Students Take Santa Letter Assignment to Heart

Many people are out of a job right now, and my uncle is one of them. He has just recently become unemployed, and is struggling to pay his bills. More than anything, I want a job for my uncle. A job that pays well, and that he would take an interest in. That is hard to find right now, and that is why I need your help. Santa, you can squeeze through a chimney, travel the world in one night, fly with a red-nosed reindeer and eat multiple cookies without getting a stomachache. If there's anyone in this world who can help me, it's you. So please, help me find him a job. – Teresa Murphy, 11

When Kristen Vick gave her sixth-graders at a writing assignment due in final draft Thursday, the rubric was demanding. Baseline competency required high standards for content, organization, ideas and process, along with correct conventions of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Excellence required more: A distinctive voice, careful and creative word choice, sentence fluency – in short, a mastery of syntax.

Santa Claus must seldom receive such polished prose – or letters quite so honest. The task was to write at least two paragraphs, the first a straightforward assessment about one's standing vis a vis naughty vs. nice; the second about what one wanted for others. An optional third paragraph – "If you have time," Vick said – could include some wishes for one's self.

I don't think I was even close to perfect this year, for have done a mixture of horrible and wonderful things....

"Yeah, I did some pretty bad things this year – I fought with my brother and my friends – but I did some good things, too," said Katie Haas, 11, as she completed decorating her letter to Santa.

"Then, we were assigned to do something about what we wanted for someone besides ourselves."

My parents and friends have been so good to me, and they are the ones who I will request something for.... I make a special request that you bless the bunny that Stephanie will get, because she waited so patiently for one. Help my sister Miranda continue to do well at college.... For me, just a little Christmas spirit, and some little trinkets I will request.... Also, if you could make it snow....

"I thought it was a really cool idea," said Teresa Murphy, who above all wanted a job for her uncle. "It puts you in the Christmas spirit even though you're in school and you're learning to write.

"I was really truthful – I was pretty good overall – but I did try to bribe Santa with a promise of extra cookies."

Sam Szews, 11, began his letter by asserting that "I was really good this year." However, he went on, "I need to get better grades in school."

My friends, my cousins – Matt, John, Mike and Andrew – and all my family deserve something good this year....

Sam concluded his letter with one material wish for himself, an iPod Touch – and a restatement of deeper desire: "I still do want to kick my grades up."

Andrew Hruz called it an "in-between year for me.... In reflecting on my behavior, I could have been kinder to my sister and mother...."

It is likely that Santa will forgive him that as he reads on to Andrew's wish for another.

This year, the person I would like to give a special gift to is my dad. He is coming home from Afghanistan on December 22, just in time for Christmas. I would like to give him a new watch as a gift. His watch is old and the band has been broken for awhile....

Claire Hubley ticked off the many ways she had been nice, mostly by helping her mother, taking care of the family's new puppy, Bruno, and getting "exceptional grades."

On the other hand, she admitted to regularly bickering with her three brothers over the course of the year, but she had an astute piece of advice for Santa in his final judgment on that shortfall: "Just make sure you check them twice on the list."

Moving on, Claire surely won Santa's already forgiving and embracing heart for young folks everywhere.

There are so many children today whose families just might not have the money to buy any Christmas presents this year. One of these is Josenie, a 12-year-old girl my family and I sponsor through an organization called World Vision. She is one of those unlucky children who probably will not receive gifts this year. She lives in a very poor village in Haiti....

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Please enjoy the full text of selected letters from Kristen Vick's six-graders at St. Jude the Apostle School, included as PDF files in the photo gallery. Click to open, then click "fullscreen." Patch does not provide tissues.