Carbon Career & Technical Institute's SkillsUSA group collected a good haul for the Toys for Tots program this year.

Though the collection had only been set up in the school's cafeteria less than two weeks ago, the bin was overflowing on Friday when Schuylkill Carbon Marine Corps members Brian Snyder and Joe Sweeney came for the pickup."Every year, they are above and beyond," Snyder said of CCTI's contributions.This year, CCTI's efforts were helmed by their chapter of SkillsUSA, an organization that supports teachers and students who are preparing for technical, skilled and service careers."We left the box out in the cafeteria every day. If somebody feels like donating, it's right there for you," SkillsUSA member Derbe Stroup, 16, said.Outside of the setup, the group would routinely educate their fellow students, encouraging everyone to donate."We made daily announcements to help promote Toys for Tots, we had a few of the advisers go around to tell everybody about what it is," SkillsUSA member Dominic Borger, 17, said.CCTI's SkillsUSA adviser Kevin Kuehner, along with assistant advisers Tammy Marshall and Jeremy Pease, helped the students orchestrate the drive."We did have a lot of participation from the students, and we actually do this as part of their SkillsUSA leadership role, because they're supposed to be the leaders of the school, the best of the best that we have," Marshall said. "So, this brought out the best of the best to encourage them to bring Toys for Tots to the school."Donations included a Play-Doh Fun Factory Mega Set, board games, coloring books, a bowling set, an Air Huntress Z-Curve Bow, and much more."They did phenomenally," Pease said. "I like to see the overflow coming out of the box. We may need two boxes next year."