Thumbs up to the students at Dayton Consolidated School for collecting and donating hundreds of coloring books and crayons to children at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. The students in Julie Montalbano’s second-grade class and Crystal Blais’ fourth-grade class worked together and organized the school-wide collection, which garnered 211 coloring books and 158 boxes of crayons.

These kinds of acts are inspiring and show that even the youngest people in our communities know the importance of giving to others. The students should be commended for their efforts and their show of holiday spirit.

Thumbs up to Sanford resident Gary Sullivan for all his hard work and to the Town of Sanford for honoring Sullivan. On Wednesday, officials gathered to dedicate a newly redesigned stairway at Mid-Town Mall in his honor. Sullivan, a champion of the town and life-long resident, has worked for years to improve the area and recently helped get renovations going for the Little Theatre at Nasson Community Center. Although he suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Sullivan has worked tirelessly for the town, and we’re glad to see his work being recognized.

Thumbs down to the thief or thieves who stole gift cards intended for a Christmas giving program from two local Catholic churches. Gift cards went missing from two churches of the Good Shepherd Parish: Most Holy Trinity in Saco and St. Philip Church in Lyman. The gift cards were supposed to be distributed as part of an outreach ministry to the poor and the elderly, according to Sue Bernard, communications director for Good Shepherd Parish. Hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards were stolen, and although much has been replaced by generous parishioners, it is unthinkable that someone would steal gifts intended for the needy during the holiday season. Hopefully, police will find and bring to justice those who stole the gift cards, and with any luck, the cards may be recovered.

Thumbs up to the Thornton Academy students who participated in a program to learn more about the democratic process. Sophomores in Devin Beliveau’s U.S. history class participated in Project Citizen, a curricular program from the Center for Civic Education that promotes participation in local and state government. Students worked in small groups and identified a problem they believed existed in the school or in the City of Saco, identified solutions, and came up with an action plan for a public policy change. The project culminated with presentations to local officials. The project gave students a chance to get engaged in local issues while connecting them with area officials who can make the changes they suggest. These types of projects benefit both students and adults by providing a forum for the groups to speak about new ideas.

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Thumbnails is a Monday feature of the Journal Tribune’s opinion pages, which is being printed today due to the holiday. To respond, write to the Readers’ Forum via e-mail at jtcommunity@journaltribune.com or by drop your letter off at our Biddeford or Sanford offices.