This holiday season, students and staff at Lindenhurst High School have decided to bring back the beloved Elf Cottage. The Elf Cottage is located in room 132 and is hosted by Mrs. McGuire, with the assistance of other instructors. The tradition began around 5 to 6 years ago, when she and a fellow co-teacher, who recently retired, sought a space for children with special needs to create a variety of products and seasonal ornaments to sell to our community. The Elf Cottage runs from December 3 to December 22.

Students that take part in the Elf Cottage work hard to bring the project to life; for example, students who are good at painting would paint Christmas ornaments. Mrs. McGuire does her best to get each student involved in a variety of Christmas activities and crafts. We have three life skills classes in the facility, each of which makes decorations and various Christmas crafts. Since the kids in Room 132 are the oldest and have the greatest expertise, they are given direct assistance inside the store while the others do simple crafts outside. ‘This was something to work up to,” Mrs. McGuire remarked. 

A couple of years ago, the Elf Cottage decided to branch out start an online catalog. The students and teachers fill in online orders and place them in bags and deliver them to the desired location. Usually around 11:50, Mrs. Mcguire goes on the bus with half of the class and delivers the orders around the district. She usually chooses half of the class using a wheel generator, so it can be fair. Once the Elf Cottage is over, they usually spend the whole day on December 23 to clean up. 

Overall the Elf Cottage is a great place to buy gifts and Holiday creations, and support our own Lindenhurst Highschool students. You can buy a variety of products like snowflake photo holders, gumball machine ornaments, snow globes, holiday candy grams, and much more! To check out more information about the Elf Cottage you can check out the catalog: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10iMTR1AAYtTYzmT3fJj7FdVQABDSqzOV/view?usp=sharing