VACAVILLE, Calif. — To combat low extracurricular funds and increase community engagement, a Vacaville high school is hosting an inaugural Winter Craft Fair Dec. 10 to bring people together this holiday season.
Bre Sirokman, English teacher and student activities advisor at Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville, says the event is a way to give back to students and the community to “make them feel seen and loved.”
The event, which is being run by students and has offerings for anyone at any age, may return year after year if it’s a success in its mission to bring people together.
“I hope that this event brings our students together [to say] ‘look, what we did, this is so amazing,’” said Sirokman. “I really want them to have pride in belonging to a school that really made a difference in the community.”
The craft fair was modeled after the Teacher Student Association spring craft fairs, finding that outline easier to follow than cooking something up from scratch.
Sirokman says there will be dozens of community based vendors selling goods to help fundraise for the school to “pay for sponsorships, send low-income Seniors to Prom, Winter Formal, to buy yearbooks and to treat them and their families to the senior dinner that they might not be able to afford on their own.”
The funds made from the craft fair will also impact the annual Winter Wishes event, which happens in February and also contributes to the community.
“Students make a wish for warm coats for their siblings, or they may wish for their parents who work so hard to get a gift card to go out to dinner and the movies. We even used to refurbish cars and give one car to a specially deserving community member,” said Sirokman. “Because our fundraising goals have just been smaller, less boisterous, than they have been in the past, we've had to kind of tone that down a little bit as well.”
On top of vendors, arts and crafts and activities, there will be a silent auction, food trucks and door prizes.
The event will be held Sunday Dec. 10 at Will C. Wood's campus at 998 Marshall Road in Vacaville from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, click HERE.
