Allison Franco, an eighth grader at Mars Middle School who started the "Superstars for Wishes" program, holds one of the gold stars she and her friends are selling for $1 each at the school that benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Just when you thought that the schools were filled with nothing more than video game playing, sarcastic, selfish, lazy students, along comes a shining star to shatter the stereotypes.

Allison Franco, an eighth-grader at Mars Middle School, has taken it upon herself this holiday season to make sure that children suffering from life-threatening illnesses have a chance to get their holiday wish fulfilled.

"It's called Superstars for Wishes," said Allison, whose quiet demeanor is a pleasant surprise.

With some gold construction paper and various styles of glitter donated by her parents and one of her teachers, Mrs. Tritch, Allison and a group of friends gathered during the school day to cut out stars, decorate them and then sell each star for $1 during school lunches. All of the proceeds are going to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

"Our goal is to raise $400, which would be $1 per student at the middle school," Allison said.

"Once a student buys a star, they get to write whatever wish they have for themselves on the star, so long as it's not mean. And it has to meet the school district's policy of conduct."

Some of the wishes have been a little unique, but all in good fun.

"Probably the funniest wish so far has been from our friend Ryan who asked for a pony," laughed Allison while describing the project earlier this week.

I was personally moved by the project, so I kicked in a couple of bucks and made a few of my own wishes. One of them involves Brett Favre and a Superbowl game against the Steelers, but that's for another time.

To say that the school has been bitten by the giving spirit of the season is kind of like saying everyone is looking forward to a holiday break.

The group reminds students about the project with daily news blurbs on the Channel 1 student news during homeroom announcements, and as a result, many have volunteered their services.

"My friends Kayla, Abby, Salina and Nicole help me out each day, and they're as motivated as I am to make this project a success," Allison said.

The project is a pleasant surprise and a stark contrast to most of the news stories involving teenagers today.

"She's a great kid, doing a great thing at a young age," said teacher Joe Cioc, the student congress adviser. "The kids volunteered to help out and there are two different shifts working during lunch trying to sell tickets each day. And our congress passed the project unanimously," he continued with a chuckle.

Isn't that really the spirit of this season? Working together, avoiding political bias and making wishes come true for those around us who are less fortunate?

If you'd like to do something special this year, please mail a donation to the Make-A-Wish foundation through this project or contact local Make-A-Wish representative Jill Mitchell at 412-471-9474. Merry Christmas to everyone, and thank you, Allison, for reminding me what this season is all about.

Christian Ola, a community columnist for the Butler Eagle, resides in Mars with his wife, son and daughter and can be reached at christianolac@aol.com.