First-graders at Lido School and National Honor Society members from Long Beach High School joined together for an activity that focused on reading. On Dec. 17, the two groups teamed up at Lido for a lesson that focused on Shel Silverstein’s famous book, “The Giving Tree.”
   
NHS Co-Vice President Kathryn Mannle organized this initiative after considering ideas for her community service project – a requirement for each of the organization’s officers.
   
“I decided to do an activity based on a story that teaches good lessons about giving, especially during the holiday season,” she said.
   
Kathryn, along with NHS members Kayla Abbott, Meghan Maquet, Jessica Umanzor and Alanna Weiss, divided into groups with the first-graders, read “The Giving Tree” and led a related activity.
   
The younger students were provided leaf-shaped papers, where they illustrated and described their favorite parts of the book. The finished leaves were affixed to branches of a tree that decorates the classroom’s door. The event offered high school students the ability to make a difference to the Lido students, who benefitted from the positive influence of their reading role models.