The Opportunity School is aptly named. House at First Presbyterian Church of Ottawa, 114 E. Jefferson St., the school gives 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children a chance to enlarge their world through the use of playtime and interaction with other children. This year, the school’s fundraiser is "It’s an Opportunity School Christmas!" Students in six different classes created six Christmas card designs.

"This is a wonderful place to work and the school has a great staff," said School Director Sally Fiesel, who has been with the school since March 2001. "There’s actually very low turnover here. Many of our teachers have taught here for many years."

The school also has an enrollment of 150 "great kids," Fiesel continued. "They walk in at the age of 3 and the growth we see by the time they reach 5 is phenomenal. We have two classes for 3-year-olds, two classes for 4-year-olds and two classes with a combination of 3- and 4-year-old children."

Part of the school’s philosophy is the belief all children "are unique with special needs and abilities," according to official literature. "We feel that our children’s self esteem is very important to how they learn and to their future school success. We offer opportunities to gain self worth, competence and confidence."

This year’s Christmas card fundraiser accentuates that philosophy.

"This is something brand new for us," Fiesel said. "The cards have turned out beautiful, it’s more than we ever dreamed it would be."

Erin Stuedemann, one of the school’s board members, came up with the idea of creating Christmas cards in September.

"The nature of our school is that every child is included," she told The Times. "And that’s exactly what happened with this project."

The six very colorful designs were the idea of each teacher, but the children added their own creativity. The cards are both unusual and beautiful. One of the designs is a Christmas tree created by the classes taught by Mary Driscoll, Shirley Manullang, Sue Rappeport and Jacki Salzman.

"They used torn pieces of green tissue paper to form a tree, then used colored buttons as ornaments," Stuedemann said.

Another design is of handprints in maroon and green ink superimposed on each other created by students of Shelli Slack and Cim Hardt.Students of Hardt and Marci Hennenfent used thumbprints to create reindeer faces.

Torn foil wrapping paper made into shapes of presents were the idea of Lisa Williams and Kim Harrison’s classes. Students of Williams and Bonnie Terrones created red and green swirls are the background for the words "Merry Christmas." Janet Gelsthorpe and Julie Sampson’s classes drew colorful snowmen on a blue background.

By late October the designs were completed.

"Every single child participated," Stuedemann said. "The teachers came up with the different ideas but it’s the children who created the cards."

The back of each card lists the teachers and students who created the cards.

Stuedemann took the designs to Illinois Office Supply, 1119 LaSalle in Ottawa.

"They took pictures and created the cards, doing a really great job."

And now the cards are being sold through order forms sent home with the children, in both the church and school and at The Book Mouse — 12 cards (two of each design) with envelopes for $15.

"We provide our children with the love of learning," Fiesel said. "This project turned out so wonderful. We do other fundraisers thoughout the year, normal ones like spaghetti dinners and cookie sales, but the Christmas cards have been a great process for our children. The possibilities are endless, so I think we’ll do this again next year."

Stuedemann agreed.

"Every child got a chance to be part of a Christmas card. This was a fun project to work on and I think the children had fun creating these cards."

For more information on how to purchase cards, visit the school’s Web site at www.ottawaopportunityschool.org or call Erin Stuedemann at 815-343-7091.

Opportunity School: One Goal

For every student who can pay tuition, another student is admitted to Opportunity School on a scholarship, regardless of sex, race, color, creed, national or ethnic origin. It’s part of a program that provides an "early childhood educational experience, especially children who would not otherwise have the opportunity for preschool experiences," according to school officials.

"Since this is part of our mission, we depend on funding from United Way and other organizations," School Director Sally Fiesel told The Times. "It’s a way to offer children programs and opportunities they might not otherwise have."

Opportunity School is part of the mission program of First Presbyterian Church of Ottawa and its outreach program. Partners in Education include United Way of Eastern La Salle County, the Illinois State Board of Education, Ottawa Elementary School District 141, Ottawa Child Welfare Guild, District 6420 Rotary International and the Starved Rock Reading Council.