Kudos to caring city school workers

In this year that has been so overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, politics and unrest, I wanted the opportunity to acquaint you with what an inspiring job some of your Baltimore City Public Schools employees are doing to help make Christmas happen for everyone. A few weeks ago, Heather Higgins, the school social worker at Armistead Gardens Elementary Middle School, started receiving calls from the parents and grandparents of some of her children asking for help. They were unable to purchase any Christmas presents for their children and hoped she could provide them some assistance.

Ms. Higgins put out a notice asking if anyone would be willing to adopt a family for Christmas. The response was incredible, so much so that Ms. Higgins enlisted the help of her co-worker, Natasha Bentzen, the community school coordinator with the YMCA, to handle the offers. Hundreds of people offered to help, and Ms. Higgins and Ms. Bentzen were able to reach out to other school social workers with offers to help their children.

At this point, a local television station picked up the story, and the responses grew to include people from as far away as Florida and California. Working long after the school day ended, Ms. Higgins and Ms. Bentzen were able to deliver over 230 presents to children. These kind of employees are to be commended for their effort and dedication.

The Baltimore school system should be proud of the people they employ. In closing, let me say that I am the most fortunate person in that I get to call Ms. Higgins my daughter.