Mystery boxes provide Markham students with early Christmas gifts

Edwin Markham Elementary School students will not be seeing any losses in literacy this winter break. Right before they were let out for the season, they were gifted with boxes containing not only books but various little items as well.

The boxes came courtesy of OwlCrate Jr., a company that sends monthly literary boxes to subscribers of different grade levels. The project was spearheaded by Assistant Principal Rebecca Schlafer-Miller, who learned about the company a year ago when she was browsing Facebook. At the time, Schlafer-Miller was a fifth-grade teacher at the school and reached out through her TikTok.

"I just wanted to take a chance to see if I could get them to even donate just to our upper-grade students," she said. "They were gracious enough to donate items for our preschool all the way through sixth-grade students."

OwlCrate donated more than 900 boxes, enough to be distributed to every student at Markham. Over the course of Wednesday and Thursday, Schlafer-Miller called each class over to the library to pick up the boxes, with the first round going to preschoolers through second-graders on Wednesday, and the second round given to third through sixth-graders on Thursday.

The contents of the boxes were a surprise to all. Some students could be overheard speculating if it was a million dollars or perhaps a PlayStation 5. Most went back to their classrooms to find out, but others were able to open the boxes at the library.

Each box contained different contents, but they were all themed by grade level. For example, the third-grade boxes had a "Comic Crusader" theme, one of which featured items such as a tea blend, a utility belt fanny pack, multi-color OOLY Comic Attack pens and a copy of "The Unforgettable Logan Foster" by Shawn Peters, the story of a foster boy who learns that his prospective parents are superheroes.

Sixth-graders had the themes of "Write it Down" and "Creative Courage," and the boxes included things like yuzu-scented soap inspired by J.C. Cervantes’ "The Storm Runner," a pop-up lantern, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" sticker sheets, flash cards and copies of the books "The In-Between" by Rebecca Ansari and "Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls" by Kaela Rivera.

Principal Jose Bermudez was on hand to help Schlafer-Miller hand out the boxes.

"This is a gift for you guys," he told them at one point. "Enjoy it over the break or after."

Bermudez said the creation of a third administrator position at Markham has allowed for such projects.

"It's one of Ms. Schlafer's fortes: infusing the positivity with all the academics," he said.

Bermudez said that while some might think of Christmas as providing superficial gifts, the boxes will give students a greater appreciation for literature. He loved the reactions he got upon giving students their boxes.

"It's not just the academics and the behavior but the personal growth," he said. "These things help to continue to build that."

Schlafar-Miller hopes the gift boxes will inspire a love of reading and beyond.

"Reading can expand further out than just in a book," she said. "The whole point of the box is to make the book come to life with all the things that are included."

Moreover, Schlafer-Miller wants students to enjoy themselves this holiday season.

"For some of our kids, we don't know if they’re gonna travel," she said. "Some of them might just stay home, and I just want them to know that they’re loved and that they have people at school that are willing to go above and beyond for them."

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