The old one is beyond repair – in fact, it was torn down. So Lanphier High School is giving the community a Christmas gift: a new Santa house. Brian Craner gives us a preview …
“It’ll be very personal,” says Brian Craner, a building trades instructor at Lanphier. “We are looking at a trailer 8 by 25 (feet). The actual cottage will be 8 by 20 (feet). We’ll have Santa there for this year. Also, the park district is talking about using it for different holidays, and they can decorate it for whatever they need.”
The Springfield Park District approached Lanphier about using the students to bulid a new home for Santa at Robin Roberts Stadium.
It’s a great project for the students, says the other instructor, Rob Handy. “The whole plan for this program was, we all know that education is in kind of a bad place,” he says. “No Child Left Behind hasn’t exactly been great for us. I teach special ed kids. Brian teaches general ed. It’s a great match. This provides an opportunity for our children who are unconventional students. They are not going to college, and if they are, they want some avenue to help.”
Handy and Craner say the new house should be ready by Thanksgiving.