Every year at San Jose’s Branham High School, the student leadership teams asks every student, teacher, and staff member to make a wish. They then work for months to make those wishes come true. The biggest wishes, though, are granted at a rally in front of the entire school. Garvin Thomas shares the story of the emotional, uplifting results.

Garvin Thomas

Garvin Thomas Bay Area Proud Preemie Book

Being a parent with two newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford can be very stressful, said Barkha Katiyar, especially when both babies weigh less than 4 pounds … combined. “So they were 27 weeks. They were one pound, 12 ounces and one pound, 14 ounces,” she said. “They had some issues and…

Seventeen years ago, a small act of kindness gave hope to Irika Katiyar’s parents. She now hopes to do the same for other parents of premature babies.

It’s an annual tradition that brings a tear to our eye. It also brings a smile — and hope. South Bay High School students, granting as many holiday wishes as they can for fellow classmates and school staff. Garvin Thomas has the story of one wish to make sure a student’s memory lives on even after after her death.

It’s an annual tradition that brings a tear to your eye. It also brings a smile and hope. A South Bay high school is doing it the right way — teaching its students empathy and holiday kindness. Garvin Thomas reports in this edition of Bay Area Proud.