Shen students sew to help others
CLIFTON PARK (March 6) — Some Koda Middle School students are receiving lessons in sewing — and in helping others.
The 7th-graders are learning how to sew in their family and consumer sciences (FACS) class by creating quilts for children who could use some extra comforting. The 10 community service quilts will be donated to the pediatric unit at Northwoods at Hilltop, a rehabilitation center for children who have suffered head trauma and to Hospice Wave Riders, a support group for children who have had someone close to them die.
Koda students Nicole Rizzo and Analise Kirby work on a quilt that will be donated to either Hospice Wave Riders or Northwoods at Hilltop.
The students started the quilts last quarter in art class by drawing squares to be included in the quilts. This quarter — during their FACS sewing unit — the 7th-graders are assembling the quilts. For most of them, it’s the first time they’ve ever used a sewing machine, though they did hand-stitching in their 6th-grade FACS classes.
“I didn’t think I’d be able to do this,” Marcus Romano said. “I haven’t really sewed before. I thought it was going to be hard.”
Every year, the middle-school FACS classes combine community service with their sewing units. Some years they’ve made stuffed animals for ambulances and fire departments to give children at emergency scenes.
“It’s always something about kids, a group or project that involves kids,” said teacher Jennifer Nicholls, who added community service is a state curriculum requirement. “A lot of times people come to us and say, ‘Hey, we have this, and can you help?’”
This year’s idea of quilts came from Ann Schwanda, who has been leading young people in making quilts for children in need since her sons were in elementary school.
“In 2000, one of the teachers asked me if we could do it with all of Karigon,” Schwanda said.
In the 2000-01 school year, the students she worked with made 24 quilts. This year that number has grown to 125.
“Most of the kids really get that they are doing this for kids who have had something happen in their lives,” Nicholls said. “We’re teaching them that art can be community service — that no matter what they do they are making a difference in this world.”
For more information:
- Koda Middle School, 970 Route 146, Clifton Park, 881.0470
- Karigon Elementary School, 970 Route 146, Clifton Park, 881.0530
