Elementary School Students Light 157-Foot Holiday Tree on Top of AT&T Tower in Anchorage
Students from Government Hill Elementary School in Anchorage helped brighten the holidays for their friends, neighbors and the city last week when they joined AT&T employees in lighting a 157-foot holiday tree on top of AT&T’s 225-foot communications tower. Built by AT&T employees, the tree features 850 amber, yellow and green light bulbs.
The annual tree-lighting is a 21-year tradition for AT&T and the Government Hill community. Each year, the annual event is eagerly anticipated by Government Hill Elementary students, 14 of whom are randomly selected to flip breaker switches to illuminate the tree.
The event began with a school assembly at which each student’s name is placed in a bucket corresponding to the student’s grade. Two students from each grade were be chosen randomly to be official tree-lighters.
After the names were drawn, all the students made a short walk to the tower. Following spirited singing of time-honored holiday carols, the lucky 14 were given hardhats to wear and invited into a special area to flip the tree’s light switches.
AT&T has a long history of support to Government Hill Elementary School, from helping judge the student science fair and ‘Chalk the Walk’ (through United Way) on the first day of school to supporting the Junior Achievement in a Day program at the school each spring.