TIFTON — For the fourth year in a row, students at Eighth Street Middle School have raised money to help fellow students have a happy Christmas through the Santa’s Blue Elves program.

The annual program takes funds donated from middle school students to help elementary students buy Christmas presents for their families and themselves.

“We started the program so we can meet the needs of students in the community,” said Jackie Tipper, a teacher at ESMS who helped organize the event.

Tipper said that more than 220 middle school students raised enough funds to take 50 elementary-school-aged students to buy presents for not only themselves, but their entire family.

Guidance counselors from ESMS’s feeder schools, Omega, Len Lastinger, Annie Belle Clark and Matt Wilson, selected students who would benefit from the event.

Middle school students, marked by blue Santa hats, took over Walmart on Dec. 12. Each elementary school aged child was paired with several “elves” to help them pick out items and keep track of their budget.Each group had around $100 to spend, and most of that money went towards buying gifts for the parents and siblings of the elementary school children. After they got something for each family member, the students were able to select one thing for themselves.

After the shopping spree, all of the students went back to ESMS and wrapped the gifts, which were sent home with the younger students.

“ESMS is very proud of this project and all credit is due to our students and their parents because without their generosity, Santa’s Blue Elves would not exist,” said Tipper. “At ESMS, our motto is ‘Engagement plus Support plus Motivation equals Success.’ Our Santa’s Blue Elves project engages our students in changing the world for people in the community. It enables them to support future ESMS students and their families at Christmastime. Santa’s Blue Elves motivates them to share the spirit of giving to others who they didn’t even know prior to today.

“All of this contributes to the overall success of our students. This success requires more than mastering state standards.

“Successful students are those who also show love, mercy, grace, compassion and generosity among many other things. All of these can’t be measured by standardized tests but they are very evident in the fruits of these young people’s actions. I am proud to say that our Santa’s Blue Elves exhibit these qualities. We are so proud of each of them.”