Holy Sepulcher students create blankets for the homeless
MIDDLESEX TWP — Students at Holy Sepulcher Catholic School worked to bring warmth to those in need during a service project Wednesday as part of Catholic Schools Week.
The weeklong celebration, usually held by Catholic schools at the end of January or the beginning of February, features projects, activities, school spirit and volunteer crafts made and organized by students and teachers.
“Catholic Schools Week always has a service project of some sort for our community,” said principal Ashley Bauer. “One of our days, we commit to the community. We try to do one day for the students, one day for the staff, one day for the parish, one day for the priests, and one day is for the community.”
For this year’s project, students created tied-together fleece blankets to be distributed to homeless people.
The idea for the activity came from sixth-grade student Jenna Scheller, who worked with student council, second-grade teacher Adrianne Shifter and first-grade teacher Amanda Lauer to gather donated supplies and put everything together.
“The student council has been helping me out, and Mrs. Shifter and Mrs. Lauer, but this is a schoolwide project,” Scheller said. “We had a blanket drive, and different people in the school brought in some fleece. They gave out measurements that they were supposed to bring, and we will pair them up.”
Scheller has been involved with volunteering and service projects through her family for several years, but this is her first time organizing her own project.
“I think that it’s really wonderful that we’re taking this week to not only honor our school, but how much the school helps others,” she said. “Especially the students, but now the students get to give back a little bit.”
Working together
The school was able to create 12 blankets.
“This is something that because of the type of project it is, it’s easy for the kids to understand what we’re doing it for,” Shifter said. “Every one of the students was involved in making these blankets.”
Lauer added that the project’s hands-on nature added to the appeal of getting involved.
“We do the can drives, and it’s easy for a kid to pick up a can, but here, they actually got to participate in helping someone,” she said. “One of the kids even made a comment and said, ‘This is so easy, I could do it at home.’”
One fourth-grade student, Alyssa Pokoj, 9, said she enjoyed being able to help someone in need.
“We like to help the homeless,” she said. “We’re working on cutting and tying blankets for the homeless to give them something to snuggle up with.”
Logan Brode, 8, said being able to make something to give to someone else was fun, and that his teacher had showed him and other students how to make the blankets.
“It wasn’t that easy at the start, but once we knew how to do it, it was easier,” he said.
Student council members helped organize the project. Shifter said that leadership and coming up with activities is a big part of participating in student council.
“One of the things that we really stress in student council is leadership,” she said. “With them showing leadership for the schools, they come up with the ideas and they do some research on different things to do. They’ve planned a lot of other things.”
