Thank you to Mr. Cyr, the shop teacher at Davis for helping me, Mindy Sparks, provide coconuts for my horse lesson in music! I bought the coconuts at the local store and needed them cut in half and hollowed out to provide instruments for my Sped students here at Adams. He was able to use his saw and his talents to cut them in half. I picked them up, took them home and baked them so the white meat of the coconut would separate from the shell. I scraped and popped out the white meat and now we have awesome instruments in our classroom for everyone to play! The students loved playing their coconuts! They were so surprised they could be used as instruments! I am very thankful for the collaboration that took place for the education of our students! They will also be used for my kindergarten classes at Hoover, Gilbert, and McClure in the coming weeks!Mr Cyr, you made a positive impact on my students' learning and I am very grateful! - Mindy Sparks

Adams and Hoover Elementary are home to two of 100 mini-pitches to be installed across the country thanks to Target and the U.S. Soccer Foundation. #EveryonesGame #SafePlacesToPlay

Every year, Adams partners with The Salvation Army and Triumph Actuation to get winter clothes for our students.  This process starts by gathering $75 donations for each student.  Last year, we took 222 students to shop at Walmart, all in one morning.  We knew that this year would have to be done differently.  So, this year we fundraised for 247 students!  We gathered each of the 247 students’ sizes and got that information to our volunteer shoppers.  We partnered with Old Navy, who offered extra discounts and designated shopping times.  The clothes were then packaged for each student, along with  a pair of winter boots, generously donated by Wear A Big Smile Foundation, part of Washington Shoe Company.

On December 5th, families came to Adams for a drive thru pick up.  Our event was made extra special with Christmas blowup decorations, the lighted Coca-Cola Truck, treats from Franz and Tree Top, and Christmas music.  Our volunteers brought joy throughout the entire event, despite weather in the 20s.  

The amount of fundraising that came from Adams’ staff and their families and friends was record setting!  Triumph Actuation fundraised, packaged the clothing, was able to shop through the Triumph WINGS program, and had many volunteers on the day of the event. The La Salle High School girls basketball team fundraised, volunteered as shoppers, and helped distribute the clothing to students.

Our community came together to support this event and our Adams students in a year when the need is greater than ever before.  

We would like to thank all of our donors and volunteers that made this event possible and made a difference in our students’ lives!  Hopefully, next year we will be back to shopping in person with our kids!

This Thanksgiving season, Maverick Cares donated Thanksgiving meals for 20 of our Yakima School District Families! We are grateful for their generosity and thoughtfulness this holiday season. We also want to thank our Yakima Police Department for coordinating this effort. We appreciate you!