It was a very successful endeavor. All together, we gave away $3000 in Target gift cards to about 60 Taylor students who had been affected by the floods of 2008.

We received several thank-you cards; one read simply “Thank you for taking us to store. Love Ron.” We took photos with most of the kids. The Gazette, CBS, and KCRG all showed up to cover the story and follow the kids around, and they left satisfied. So did the kids. We caught them as they left the store with their purchases- one girl bought a wet-to-straight hair straightener, another boy an enormous nurf gun, and more toys, books, and games.

And, for a few families, the day was even better: we ended up with a couple extra gift cards, so they were raffled off. Upon being given the extra card, one father said “All right, how about we take this stuff, go home, eat dinner, and come back?” His two girls grinned.

THANK YOU SO MUCH to the Wheeler family, everyone who came to support us, Target, the Gazette, CBS, KCRG, and the community. Check out our photos and see! You really made a difference.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Caitlyn Hicks got to buy herself some late Christmas presents on Sunday thanks to the Taylor 3 Wish Club.

“I got a jacket, a Webkinz, and some bracelets, and some cards,” Caitlyn, 10, said.

Her brother Quinton, 12, picked out a book and an Xbox game.

A club started by Washington High School students has made it a priority to try to brighten the lives of students who attend Taylor Elementary School, hit hard by the flood of 2008.

Quinton and Caitlyn were two of 55 Taylor kids who received a $50 Target gift card from the 3 Wish Club. They got to buy whatever they wanted Sunday afternoon at the Target on Blairs Ferry Road NE.

“They were just delighted, and it was really awesome to see,” Hannah Wheeler, 17, president of the Taylor 3 Wish Club, said. “It was my last day of break. It was the best way I ever could have spent it.”

The last 18 months have been hard for the children who go to Taylor School, and the Hicks kids have been no exception. Their home near the Police Station was flooded in June 2008, and their school was closed for the 2008-09 school year.

At least one of the families shopping Sunday hadn’t been able to celebrate Christmas this year, and the gift card provided the only presents the kids received.

Wheeler and Kestrel Henry, 17, started the 3 Wish Club in 2008 after the flood and before Taylor School reopened. They thought the school’s closure would be particularly hard on the students, and asked each child who attended the school for at least half the previous school year to tell them three wishes: one big, one medium and one small.

The club since has granted about 60 wishes, and used leftover money to buy the gift cards for Sunday. The donations came from local businesses and individuals, teachers and students at Washington. A few donations came from as far away as California.

Sunday’s spree probably was the last thing the club will do. Wheeler and Henry plan to give what money is left to Taylor for school supplies or something else.

“To see the kids’ faces light up, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen,” Wheeler said. “That’s what the club is all about. That makes it all worth it.”

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We are very, very excited about this opportunity to finish the club and give some of the kids a holiday gift. Money left over after the shopping sprees will go to Taylor Elementary.

We’re so glad to have had the opportunity to grant so many wishes, all this year and last year. Happy holidays from the Taylor 3 Wish Club!

He sees it.

“It’s more than what they say — it’s how they act, what they feel,” said Christoffersen, Taylor’s principal. “They’re excited.”

Taylor opens its doors for the 2009-10 school year today after last June’s flood forced the school to close for 2008-09. The Taylor community has held tight to the knowledge that the school would reopen.

“The neighborhood association is called the Taylor Neighborhood Association,” Christoffersen said. “The school has always been the center of the neighborhood.”

And with the center back, the possibilities are endless. Parent Interventionist J Knight said he saw such opportunity after the floodwaters receded.

“Out of all the tragedy and all the bad things that happened, I saw the possibility for what we could accomplish when everyone comes together,” he said. “During the last year, we were able to plan, think innovatively about what we could do.”

Those plans have resulted in an improved fitness trail around the school and butterfly garden. Taylor will soon have a greenhouse and rain garden.

Taylor also partnered with the Boys and Girls Club to expand its before and after school program. The Tiger Club, pre-flood, could serve only 50 students. Christoffersen said there always was a waiting list.

The new Boys and Girls Club Tiger Club Unit will serve 100 students and includes an expanded enrichment program.

More than 200 students in kindergarten through fifth grade will attend Taylor this year.

The school also has two preschool classrooms, each with a 20-student capacity.

The preschool program already has a waiting list and enrollment is expected to increase as more paperwork is filed.

School staff aren’t surprised by the numbers.

“Students and families are returning to a place where they are comfortable,” said Peggy Linden, Taylor’s family support worker. “We serve generations of families.”

Taylor students attended elementary schools throughout the district last year. Christoffersen said the year away progressed as well as could be expected.

“Kids are resilient,” Christoffersen said. “They went to new schools last year. They made new friends, they did their best, but there’s something about going home — sleeping in your own bed and going to your school.”

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I just want to let everyone reading this know that there is still time to donate before the holidays! We are planning on going out on Christmas Eve and Christmas day to deliver wishes just in time for the holidays. But, that doesn’t mean that it will be over after Christmas. We will continue to deliver well into the New Year!

Thanks to everyone who has supported us thus far!

-Hannah Wheeler, president

Nine-year-old Alicia, the daughter of Dee Moeller, collects the stuffed animals.

She stacks a group of them at the foot of her bed. Every night, one lucky bear gets to sleep at the head of the bed with her.

On Thursday, Alicia was given three more Care Bears to add to her collection of 64. She was not sure which of the two larger bears she would curl up with later.

The gifts to Alicia and her siblings were the first wishes granted by the Washington-Taylor Three Wish Club, run by Cedar Rapids Washington High School students. They were delivered by Hannah Wheeler, Spencer Micka and Kestrel Henry, all 16.

The Washington students hope to bring joy into the lives of the roughly 250 students who used to attend Taylor Elementary School.

It flooded and did not open this year.

The older students have asked the children to submit small, medium and large wishes. They want to grant at least one wish per child with the community’s help.

Alicia’s sister, Maddison, 11, received a pair of Heelys — shoes that roll. Her brother, Lance, 6, was given a Ben 10 Alien Creation Chamber.

A what?

Lance explained: “These aliens, you put them in there and they light up and you can see ‘em.” He’ll return to Taylor next year.

The Moeller children had open-enrolled into the Cedar Rapids school district.

Maddison attends Prairie Middle School this year, and the two younger children attend Harrison Elementary.

The club is the brainchild of Wheeler and her dad, Ben Wheeler. Five students consistently attend its meetings. Nearly 200 children have submitted applications with wishes, said Henry, the club’s treasurer.

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