Every year, Mr. Jensen’s Math and Personal Finance classes head a Sub for Santa for residents in South Jordan who are going through hard times during the Christmas season. The money that is used to buy the gifts and food comes completely from the students in Mr. Jensen’s classes. Each year each student brings money to donate to the project. This year, the students from these classes were able to raise over sixteen thousand dollars to go towards the Sub for Santa. The money that these students raised were able to benefit many different families this Christmas season, and it was able to help the students at Bingham experience the true meaning of Christmas
On December 8, 2014 a large group of students met in the Bingham High media center right after school to discuss the plans for an evening of shopping. The school police officer, Detective Scott Russell, faculty members, and Mr. Jensen all spoke to the students in order to prep them for the evening that was to come. Mr. Jensen told the students in that meeting that, “Tonight will be a night that you will never forget for the rest of your lives.” After the conclusion of this meeting, the enthusiastic students were given their assigned family’s information and jumped in their cars to head to the Riverton Walmart. The isles were packed with high school students shopping for different items including food for a Christmas dinner, gifts for all different ages, and clothing to fit each family member. It took about two hours for each group to compile roughly three hundred dollars worth of these items. Once all the gifts had been purchased with a Walmart gift card, it was back to the school to wrap them in festive and colorful wrapping paper. Laughter rang through the hallways as the students wrapped all the different gifts while snacking on different food items like pizza, Chick-Fil-A, and Subway.
Next stop was to the houses of the families that the different groups were assigned. All of the students reported that their experience at the houses they went to is something that they will always remember as a heartwarming Christmas experience. Katelyn Petreiss, a student who participated in the event commented that, “Helping these people in need have a great Christmas helped me have a better Christmas.” Participating in this project helped the students at Bingham remember what the true meaning of Christmas is while having an unforgettable experience at the same time.