Rocky Boy seniors, second in our series of Christmas Heroes

They didn't come riding in a one-horse open sleigh, but Rocky Boy High School seniors masquerading as Santa Claus and elves came Thursday bearing gifts for students at Box Elder School.

Donning green and red felt hats - with elf ears and reindeer bells attached - and black slippers with curled tips. Fourteen members of Rocky Boy High School's senior class made the journey from their reservation to their neighboring school.

As they disembarked from the bus, the volunteers lugged large plastic bags of presents wrapped in glossy paper into the school's back entrance, each bag containing gifts grouped by grades preschool through sixth grade.

"These kids nearly put me in the grave a couple times," said Bowen Standing Rock, one of the student volunteers. "Everything is so heavy, and my fingers started to hurt."

Despite the physical labor and the wrapping of presents that began two weeks earlier, Standing Rock said it was worth it.

"When we gave them the presents and the overall experience of this entire project, it's pretty exciting," he said.

After loading one bag of presents into a red sack, the volunteers, led by Rocky Boy High School Counselor Kristiny Lorett, who helped launch the program, walked down the hall to Mrs. Olsen's kindergarten class. The youngsters had no idea Santa and his elves would be visiting.

Lorett and the elves entered the room and announced that Santa had come to pay them a visit.

Santa then made his way in, and the small faces broke out in smiles and expressions of awe.

One by one, the children were summoned to come up. Santa asked each one if they had been good to which they promptly answered yes, before each was given one present which they would take back to their desks.

"You're not the real Santa," Mary Morsette, a kindergartner, said from her desk.

"Santa's busy getting everyone's presents together so he sent his helper," said a nearby adult. The answer seemed to be good enough for the youngster.

Once everyone was handed a present, Santa gave his blessing for them to open the gifts. All the boy's gifts were a pack of multiple hot wheels cars, while all the girls received a baby doll.

"I don't like babies. They cry every day," said Mary.

The students thanked Santa in English and then Cree.

Santa and his entourage then moved on to the 14 other classrooms moving in sequential order from a second kindergarten class up to first grade and then second grade all the way up to sixth. They later visited the preschool class. The gifts changed with the age of the recipients.

Lorett said she and her students started Operation Help Santa four years ago. She said the idea came when she and her class were reading the Chippewa Cree Constitution, which said that communities that thrive are those that care for one another.

When it first started gifts went to about 50 students. Teachers recommended students they believed were not likely to be able to get Christmas presents. That number grew to 100 the next year.

Last year, it was decided each student in the Rocky Boy School District in grades kindergarten through six, would receive a toy, while those in grades seven and eight would receive winter essentials such as a coat or gloves. This was decided, Lorett said, because when poor students are the only ones who receive presents they feel singled out.

This year about 18 students participated in the undertaking as the community project part of their Jobs for Montanans Graduate, or JMG, class, which seeks to equip seniors to be college- and career-ready upon graduation. Altogether they raised $5,500, with the school district matching the first $1,500.

They were so successful this year they decided to expand to Box Elder School, giving every student in grades K-6 a gift.

Students were tasked with creating a business plan and a strategy for soliciting donations from businesses on Rocky Boy and in Havre through phone calls and in-person encounters. They also had to manage the budget, purchase toys and wrap the presents.

"From there, they gained the skills that you need in the professional world, which was a great marriage between Operation Help Santa and the JMG values because it is going into the professional world, acquiring these speaking skills on the job, being able to sit at meetings and write a business plan," said Lorett.

She added that being able to buy hundreds of toys and manage a large but limited budget was quite an exceptional skill for 17-year-old students.

After about two hours, the students got back on the bus to return to the reservation. The next day they would bring more Christmas cheer to their peers at Rocky Boy, ensuring they, too, had a Merry Christmas.