East Heights Elementary Celebrates Students

 Through Monthly Birthday Parties

Photos by Whitney Phelps Photography + Design

“The older I get, the more I think about lasting memories,” said Melissa Walker, Family Resource Coordinator for East Heights Elementary School. “The best thing about this job is building relationships with people. That’s where my passion is as a person.” Bringing something special to the students within her school was pressed on her heart for a long time, yet she didn’t know exactly what it was God was wanting her to do. That was until a previous Hawk student came back to visit and one idea led to a year full of smiles, laughs and excitement for the little Hawks at East Heights Elementary. 

A Calling to Serve Kids

Melissa had the opportunity to stay home with her kids when they were young, but once she began job searching again she really didn’t feel called to go back to her previous career field. Someone told her they thought she would really love working at the Central Learning Center, which at the time, also included students within elementary school. Melissa decided to call the school and see if she could spend a day observing. She fell in love with the kids and told the principal she would be interested if any job openings came available. A week later, he called her for an assistant position. She found this position so fulfilling working with the kids, but didn’t realize what she was doing was actually a family resource job. She set up events at school to get families in and connect with them. She found a church willing to start doing food bags. She was teaching kids to fold clothes along with a variety of other life skills. The principal came to her to explain what a family resource position looked like, and not long after, the Family Resource Coordinator position at East Heights became available. Melissa recalls how blessed she felt, and still does, to have been given this position fifteen years ago.  

The Vision to Make Lasting Memories

Melissa had been brainstorming since the COVID pandemic about what she could do to bring lasting memories to the students at East Heights. “I started thinking what can I do, and I started thinking birthdays,” Melissa said. She wasn’t quite sure what to do, but everything they do they try to do with intention. 

A previous Hawk, who is now 30-years-old, had recently underwent a heart transplant. He had recovered but wanted to come back to his elementary school, as it was on his bucket list to visit the school that made a lasting impact on him. Melissa explained how this young man grew up with a single mom. He slept on the couch, and his mom slept on the floor. He said he wanted to come back because there was a teacher who made him feel like he was like everybody else. Melissa had the pleasure of giving him a tour of the school. As they approached the cafeteria, he saw the milk boxes and all those memories came rushing back to him. 

Smiling as she recalled the moment, knowing this is exactly the kind of memory she wanted to give to the students, she said, “That night I was like Lord, where am I supposed to go with this? I know what you are doing, but I can’t figure it out.” Melissa expressed how the gentleman’s visit confirmed the desire to do something special for their students. That was God’s way of showing her. “I knew there would be a way, or we would find a way, if it was meant to be,” she said. 

On a mission to find a way to celebrate each student’s birthday, Melissa googled and found easy, microwavable brownie boxes. She thought she could purchase these dessert boxes and a card, but knew she didn’t have the time in her busy work schedule to make 350 cards. 

Melissa had the opportunity to meet Lacey Alexander at a Family Resource and Youth Service Center meeting.  Lacey is the Human Resources Manager at Hydro Aluminum. Their company wanted to help each school the previous year by providing money to go towards whatever area that school’s resource center needed to utilize it for. Melissa remembered how nice and genuine Lacey was the first time they met, so she decided to call her on a whim and see if their company might be willing to help with her idea. 

The determined coordinator laughed as she thought back to their conversation. Melissa called Lacey and told her she wanted to run something by her and what she was wanting to do. She explained how she wasn’t quite sure how she wanted it to roll out yet but wanted to see if they would be interested in filling out some cards for the students if she brought them by the company’s office. Melissa told Lacey, “I really want kids 30 years from now to say ‘my school family made it special for me. Every year they celebrated me!’” 

Within an hour, Lacey called her back and expressed how Hydro Aluminum really liked this idea, but they wanted to do more. Lacey said, “I discussed the plan with our Managing Director, and he said we should do some sort of small gift.  That is when we came up with the idea of the book from the Scholastic book flyer.  Each child was able to pick a book of their choice, and that was their birthday gift!” From there – Hydro Aluminum decided they were going to bring the party to East Heights Elementary!

The Planning Process

Hydro Aluminum brought cupcakes and pom poms, and they covered the costs of the microwavable brownies for the students to take home along with the book each student picked out from Scholastic. Coffee and Cream came on board and provided a free scoop of ice cream, in which they provided a card for students to redeem at their shop. The card is tied onto their brownie box. 

Mary Porter, a retired teacher with Henderson County Schools, taught for thirty-four years, with thirty-one taught at East Heights. She is Melissa’s neighbor, and when Melissa told Mary about this new program she excitedly said, “We need to wrap them!” Mary donated her own time and ribbon this school year to tie all 344 boxes of brownies. Lacey had the brownie boxes shipped to Melissa’s house, and Melissa walked them over to Mary. Mary set up a wrapping station in her home, and she was able to be part of the blessing, too! 

Once Hydro Aluminum had committed to going a step further, Melissa decided to take the cards to staff meetings, and teachers would fill them out. This allowed the teachers to have a part in it as well. She also had a high school student help decorate the cards. The cards were all different and personalized, which made each student feel special because no card was the same. 

The Birthday Parties 

The first month a birthday party took place it was something new and different. However, once word spread about the first party then other students started asking if they would be having a birthday party, too! Excitement filled East Heights Elementary. 

Melissa pulled each months birthdays from Infinite Campus and organized them into a google spreadsheet by homeroom. She would take a Scholastic book flyer to each classroom for students who had an upcoming birthday to pick out a book. They could circle whatever book they wanted. One student might pick a $3 book while another an $18 book. This is what made this special. The students were able to choose exactly what they wanted for their birthday. 

“It’s been fun to see the child’s name and the book they have picked with their personality,” stated Melissa. Stickers were placed inside each student’s book that said, “Compliments of Hydro Aluminum.” At each month’s birthday party, Melissa and the staff from Hydro Aluminum would set the books out on a table along with the brownies and cards. Plates and capri suns were placed at each table. 

Mrs. Odom called each student by name and played birthday music as they walked down to the cafeteria. Once everyone arrived, Mrs. Odom would talk to them and introduce those from Hydro Aluminum. They sang Happy Birthday to their Hawk friends, and Hydro Aluminum served the cupcakes while the brownie boxes were sent home with each student. Excitement filled the cafeteria. “To see the excitement on their face is so rewarding! The best part is seeing them walk up when their name is called to receive their book they chose, with nothing but smiles, and the joy in showing us the book and reading it while they wait for their friends to receive their book,” Lacey expressed. At the end of the birthday celebration, they take a picture on the steps of all the students celebrating their birthday for that particular month. 

Lacey would bring 3-4 people each time, and one birthday month they had the pleasure of having visitors from Norway – as Hydro Aluminum’s corporate office is based in Norway. The visitors from corporate loved the idea and wanted to tour the school when they came to town. The Student Leadership team waved the Norwegian flag and had signs that said “Welcome” in Norwegian. Those Norwegian Hydro Aluminum visitors had the opportunity to pass out the cupcakes and books. East Heights Elementary was the first American school they had ever been into and they are hoping to get the program started in Norway, too. “It was exciting!” Melissa said. 

“The neat thing about it is that we are here for everybody! Regardless of the socioeconomic status – every one of these students were so excited, felt so special and this was memorable for them! One student couldn’t wait for his birthday month and to make the brownie at home for his family. Even though a child may celebrate birthdays at home, it isn’t with his/her school. So – the child can have two but some only have one. It’s for everybody to feel special,” Melissa noted. 

The monthly parties take place at the end of each month, except for summer birthdays. They celebrated May, June and July birthdays at the end of May before school let out for summer break. 

The Feedback and Future Plans

At the end of the year, Melissa decided to take a quick survey just to gather feedback from the students and what they thought about this new program. Kids listed a variety of things they enjoyed such as hearing their names on the intercom, picking out books, cupcakes and brownies, pom poms, getting to spend time with their friends, a free scoop of ice cream, everyone singing Happy Birthday. They all really enjoyed everything about their party! When asked what they would maybe like to see next year, students suggested going outside, staying longer, getting time to play, adding music, serving ice cream, and the one that gave Melissa a good laugh – serving sushi! 

The staff at Hydro Aluminum could not believe how excited the kids were over the birthday parties, books and just the entire experience. Their goal is to get this into all of the schools in Henderson. There are six companies on board who are willing to participate and partner with a school. But – each school’s birthday experience might look different than East Heights. This program was laid on Melissa’s heart to personally bring to her school. It might not be something every school can take on, but the idea would be for students to be given the opportunity to pick out a book for their birthday.

This entire experience from start to finish this school year has been a blessing to everyone involved. Melissa has so much gratitude for Hydro Aluminum and their partnership in making this happen for the students at East Heights Elementary. Melissa said, “Their hearts and willingness to give of themselves and their time and their partnership, but their genuine hearts for these kids to want to spread it. I just think that is what is so important. I was just the tool, but it’s really about them because this would not be happening without them.” 

Lacey said, “The partnership with East Heights has been nothing but rewarding! Mrs. Odom and Melissa Walker are amazing, and you couldn’t ask for more sincere ladies!  I have built a relationship with these ladies at East Heights,  and it has been amazing to see the work they put into our children.”

This program started with Melissa wanting to make memories for her students. It brings her so much joy knowing that down the road students can say their school thought they were special enough to do all of this for them every year! “We try to make memories, but this makes them individually feel special and they are loved by their Hawk family!”