Pillows for Patients
JEFFERSON TWP — There are just 10 steps to put a star in a child's life, Denee White's class at Knoch Middle School learned this spring.
The sixth grade students in her family and consumer sciences sections worked over six class periods to sew and stuff volleyball-sized pillows that will be donated to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh.
The students began with a star pattern that listed the 10 steps to the project.
First, they chose the material. For some, it was simply a pick of their favorite color. Others brought in fabric from home or chose something with a personal meaning.
That was the case for Kody Myers, who Friday worked on the stitches to his pillow. He chose a white flannel imprinted with a Star Wars logo. His younger brother, who is autistic, loves Star Wars, he said. He chose the fabric hoping other children also would like it and at the same time he could honor his brother.
For Kody and his classmates John Jerich and Josh Arthur, these were the first attempts at aiming the thread through the needle's eye.
"I'm learning how to sew. Period," John said.
Even though it was a new skill, they said they paid close attention to detail because the pillow will be donated to help other children.
"I'm definitely working a lot harder than if it was just for me," said Paige Swager.
Ben Thoma called sewing an "entirely new experience," but said he didn't mind the project because of its charitable intentions."It won't just sit back in a closet for five, six years," Ben said.Practicality also was part of White's motivation for the stars. In years past, her class would team up with the art class to make puppets. After the students would finish, she would notice students left behind their puppets. So this year when the art classes weren't working with White's classes, she searched out a new project that would be more useful.With a call to Children's Hospital, she found a need for the small pillows that are given to patients. While all varieties of fabrics and textures are needed, the most popular is a Steelers fabric. Often players from the Pittsburgh football team visit the patients and the themed pillows are given out during the stays.The sections of the family and consumer sciences meet with White once a week. She schedules six class periods for work on the stars. After each step, she inspects the project to ensure it is a quality product.As students finish stuffing it with polyester fiber and closing the last segment with straight stitches, the pillows are crowded into paper boxes. By the end of the year, she expects about 250 stars to be ready for delivery.White said she will deliver the donations in July.<br></br>
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