Lampeter-Strasburg (L-S) High School technology teacher Todd Garber stated that it's an annual activity that helps make the district distinct.

L-S celebrated the 30th anniversary of its Holiday Workshop by welcoming approximately 200 third-graders from Hans Herr Elementary School to the high school on Dec. 4 and 5.

"Even during COVID, we missed a year, but then we went back and we did it two weeks in a row and worked with the fifth-graders and the fourth-graders to make sure no one missed the experience," said Garber. High school students who weren't in the district as third-graders also get to participate.

Coordinated by the high school technology education department and FFA, the workshop gave the younger students the opportunity to take part in four activities: mass production of gumball machines by using an assembly line, the making of a Pioneer Pride backpack and Christmas tree ornament using various printing and design methods, "Soybean Science" where students were introduced to the book "My Family's Soybean Farm" and learned how plants grow, and design and construction of graham cracker houses.

"We've experimented with a couple different stations," said Garber. "Now, we've been pretty locked in for the last 10, 15 years of pretty consistently doing the same thing." The school's ag department began participating in the Holiday Workshop several years ago. "Our ag teachers do a tremendous job with showing the uses of soy and how it's used in so many products," Garber said. "They've really helped us out there."

He said third grade seemed like the ideal age for the program. "They're not too old, but yet not too young," said Garber.

High school students assist the Hans Herr pupils. "This is an experience for third-graders to be in our classrooms to see the labs that we teach in, to see what our students are doing at the high school," Garber said. "We also try to put a little career twist to it as well. For instance, we're going to talk about engineering, architecture, construction, and they're going to engineer, design, and build a graham cracker house, so there is a little bit of a teaching component in it. We see it as valuable, obviously, for the third-graders, but also for our high-schoolers to give back and to teach and to be leaders."

Junior Trent Royer and freshman Benny Shehan were two of the high-schoolers who helped the younger students. Both took part in the Holiday Workshop when they were in elementary school. "I totally remember it," Trent said. "I remember this room. I remember the people I was with. I remember the blue hoodie with a fire design I was wearing. I know the guy who I was with."

Trent added, "It just made Christmas way more like Christmas. It was a really fun time. It's just cool to be in 11th grade now, seeing it from a totally different perspective and helping the third-graders have the same experience, and they're in the same shoes I (was in). It's just cool to see."

Benny also has fond memories. "I went through when I was in third grade," he said. "My gingerbread house was very messy. It was definitely a fun experience."

He enjoyed serving as a mentor. "It's just great to see all the third-graders have fun here and build gingerbread houses, learn about what we do in this class, and Mr. Garber's a great teacher for this," Benny said. "He's well spoken with little kids."

Emma Gochnauer, a third-grade teacher at Hans Herr, participated in the Holiday Workshop 17 years ago. "This is only my second year coming (as a teacher), but I just feel like it's so great to be back in the same high school, and just to see familiar faces, and just for the kids to experience what I got to experience at that age is really awesome," she said.

Gochnauer still possesses some of the items she made. "I still have my gumball machine and my candy machine at home," she said. "My brother and sister also went to L-S, so we have three of them at my house. And then I also have one of the pictures that we made for graphic design. It was a happy holidays card, and it's actually my face. ... I feel like some a lot of the stuff that you make, you keep for so many years after, so it's a really great tradition that they're still doing it."

Gochnauer is happy her students get an opportunity to partake in the same activities she did. "It's amazing," she said, noting the importance of seeing the high school, talking to the older students, and enjoying activities. "It's a great chance for them to come and to do something in the wood tech room that maybe they haven't had the chance to do."

The first Holiday Workshop was held in 1996. "Originally the whole concept was our department tech ed is the department that started this and continued to work with it, but there's no tech ed in the elementary schools," Garber said. "We wanted to create a tech ed experience for elementary students. Then we decided to make it more of a holiday theme to it. ... It's been fun, just kind of steering the ship with it, but it's really the teachers and our administration, and the elementary teachers that make it work at this point."

The teacher stated that the collaboration has been beneficial. "It's a great opportunity for our high-schoolers as well as the third-graders," he said.