Operation Christmas was a huge success at PHS this year. The PHS Counseling Office organized gift bags for 53 students. This could not have happened without the generous donations we received from PHS Staff and community members. A special shout out to Wildhorse Resort and Casino, Medical Center Dental, Pendleton Faith Center, Premium Tire and Lube, PEO Chapter CM, and the Knights of Pythias.

The joy and appreciation each student displayed was heartwarming, making all the work that went into it worth every minute. We hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas this year.

PHS students have been as busy as Santa’s elves during the month of December with several projects and events!

Adopt A Child
18 youth from the Pendleton area will have a great Christmas thanks to this annual program at the high school. Clubs, sports teams and individual faculty members at PHS adopt a child and purchase gifts and other items for them.

Canned Food Drive
This is a district-wide effort with all PSD schools collecting canned goods/non-perishable foods to donate. The district collected a total of 5,251 food items. Here are the amounts collected per school:

PHS 2,919
Sherwood 683
Washington 682
Sunridge MS 531
McKay 436

This year, PHS’s collection of 2,919 cans was 48 more than last year. Josh Linehan’s Advisory Class won the contest by bringing in 865 cans. His Advisory students were able to “pie” (throw pies at) losing classes that didn’t bring in any cans — Lunny, Haguewood and Speer — at the Christmas Assembly on December 12th.

Little Bucks Day
On December 18th, the very popular annual Little Bucks Day happened at PHS, with 27 children participating. Led by students from PHS Leadership, the children took a school tour, did arts and crafts, played games like Pin the Tail on Rudolph, decorated cookies, went on a scavenger hunt, and more.

Christmas Assembly
All PHS students enjoyed the assembly on December 12th, which included Principal Pat Dutcher pulling a “sled” with Shelby McQuinn, PHS Secretary, as part of the staff team in the Run Rudolph Run competition.

Also, during the Santa’s Wish List portion of the assembly, Santa (Vice Principal Curt Thompson) granted a wish for one of the high school’s foreign exchange students, Blanca, from Spain. Her wish was to be Bucky at a basketball game.

Thank you to PHS Leadership students, staff and others who made all of these service projects and festive events possible. Now, you deserve a long winter’s nap!