Superintendent’s Spotlight: Gisela Gujar and Alyssa Dovico

The Toys for Military Tots Drive is being spearheaded by two students who are rising leaders within their community. 

Gisela and Alyssa are juniors at Warwick Valley High School. They are both on the Student Senate at Warwick Valley High School and they are helping to run the Toys for Military Tots drive. Toys for Military Tots is an initiative started to assist military families with toys for their children for the holidays. 

Alyssa and Gisela have been a part of the Student Government since middle school and this is their first year running the Toy Drive.

“When you’re a freshman and sophomore you observe the juniors and seniors starting to run stuff. So now that we’re juniors and are going to be seniors, we’re trying to get more involved and get to run things next year. This is a good way to start getting more involved in these things,” said Gisela. Gisela also plays tennis for WVHS and she is the junior president of the Student Senate. 

“With the Student Senate, there are a lot of activities that we have to do,” said Alyssa, “We feel that is one of the more challenging ones because we have to talk to other people and make sure we get involved in the school. It’s definitely a good time, and a good season to do this,” said Alyssa. Alyssa runs track and field and is the junior class senator. 

As Gisela and Alyssa have been learning about coordinating the toy drive they hope to be able to donate a lot of toys because they know how important it is during the holiday season.

“It’s definitely important because during this time of year, it is a hard time. It’s the holiday season and if families can’t afford things that most other kids can, it can make kids feel upset and we want them to feel included in the holiday season,” Alyssa said.

“Being able to provide them with toys allows them to have the happiness and enjoyment that a lot of other kids experience,” said Gisela.

“I feel like we both want to overachieve and make it really successful,” said Gisela

“They gave us a couple numbers about how much (toys) they got last year and we definitely want to accomplish more,” Alyssa said.

The Toy Drive goes on for about two-and-a-half weeks and both Alyssa and Gisela noted that members of the Warwick community really want to be involved as well. They are working with different stores and shops, as well as Warwick radio station WTBQ. They are also working in conjunction with WVMS where the middle school senate is organizing their part of the toy drive. Those who want to donate can donate a toy for a child between the ages 0 and 12. Toys have to be new and unwrapped. Toys are being collected in different classrooms throughout the school and there is a box in the office. On December 8th, they collect everything and bring it to the radio station.

“Being willing to help people in the community and those that you may not think are people that need help. You don’t realize how much it impacts the community and how much it helps,” said Alyssa.

“If we had each person in the school donate one toy, that’s already 2,000 toys donated for kids,” said Gisela, “So, it shows you how the smaller things can have a bigger impact.”

Gisela and Alyssa are demonstrating many characteristics in the Portrait of a Graduate, including Ethical and Global Citizen as well as Collaborator. “These two young ladies are role models for their peers,” said Principal Georgianna Diopoulos, “They willingly took on the responsibility of organizing the toy drive in order to provide holiday cheer for the community. They are both committed to community service and are a delight to work with.”