On Saturday, December 6, 2025, Glenshire Elementary School hosted their annual holiday breakfast fundraiser. The event was filled with the sounds of laughter and smiles as kids craft activities filled classrooms, jumbo sized pancakes were served and families enjoyed the merry festivities. 

Each year, GES’s Holiday Breakfast attracts families, high school students, and other volunteers with both amusing activities and volunteer opportunities. 

“Every year we have the most innovative PTO on the planet, bringing in more performances, we change up the crafts each year based off of what sold out the year before,” says Rachael Kuttel, principal of Glenshire Elementary School. 

GES’s Holiday Breakfast hosts over 100 volunteers. Around 20-30 high school students gain community service hours, and parents and teachers participate in the set up, activities, serving breakfast and cleaning up. 

This year, jumbo pancakes, eggs, sausages and the usual signature strawberry sauce and whipped cream was served by Truckee’s firefighters and volunteers to families. Holiday decorations enlightened the halls everywhere throughout the school, creating a festive and lively atmosphere for attendees. 

Some of the crafts and activities available were: cookie decorating, dreidel games, face painting, wooden ornament crafting, reindeer ornaments, mini christmas wreaths, stuffed penguins and more. A silent auction also involved donations from local businesses, seasonal rentals, group fitness class bundles and packages offering weeks of summer camps for kids. 

Alongside the rows of cafeteria tables set out for families, attendees were also able to experience live entertainment and performances from several companies in Tahoe. The lineup started off with a concert by the GES Eagle Chorus and the Lion King cast of GES’s theater enrichment. This was followed by performances by Inner Rhythms and young Truckee Dance Factory dancers, as well as Truckee Gymnastics. Towards the end of the event, the 5th Grade Raffle winner was announced as well. 

GES’s Holiday Breakfast fundraises for all aspects of the school, encompassing distribution of the money to teachers, students and PTO tasks. 

“Last year we raised over $32,000 and all of the money raised first goes back to our PTO, and then our teacher and staff as well,” Kuttel said. “So they pay for expenses like STAR or AR testing, because we are a reading school and we love to read to achieve. The PTO also helps cover any brand new teachers’ classrooms, and if they need to get booksets or big rugs for their classroom. We’ve even had students apply for grants from our PTO.” 

GES was established in 1995 and since then the Holiday Breakfast has been a tradition at the school for almost all 30 years. Before that, the event was celebrated at Sierra Mountain Middle School. For Kuttel, who grew up here in Truckee, the Holiday Breakfast is a beloved tradition. 

“I have been doing this event since I was a baby. This is my 43rd holiday breakfast. It was once called ‘Santas Breakfast’ when I was young, and now it is the ‘Holiday Breakfast.’ But I love how it brings our community together in a way that is both magical and kind, and in the Glenshire way,” Kuttel said. 

For students, teachers and families alike, GES’s 2025 Holiday Breakfast was a success. “I was helping out with the crafts, and it was really fun because I got to see a lot of people I know and help little kids,” said Makayla Pearson, a freshman at Truckee High School. From pancakes to craft activities, and volunteer opportunities to live entertainment, there was something for everyone. 

“I love this event, and I am just so grateful for so many people coming out to Glenshire and making it so special,” said Kuttel.