There is a lot about Colchester that makes its community proud. (If you missed our recent video offering some wonderful examples, please click here.)
And now we are heading into winter … how about a warm-and-fuzzy, feel-good story?
At Colchester Middle School, teacher Amy Kreiger’s knitting club—one of many teacher-directed clubs at CMS—has been increasing in popularity since its creation. What’s particularly neat about this program is that the students involved—among other things—make and donate little hats for the Vermont Children’s Hospital at Fletcher Allen Health Care.
CMS students made these tiny hats for newborns at Vermont Children’s Hospital
A newborn at Vermont Children’s Hospital wears a knitted hat!
Click here to watch a fun video of the knitters in action!
“Maintaining a normal body temperature in ill or premature infants is always a priority,” said Barbara Henle with the Vermont Children’s Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). “The members of this population are extremely vulnerable and less able to maintain their body temperatures than are healthy and/or term infants. In addition to keeping them in special, environmentally controlled infant beds, we rely on the use of hats to help keep these infants warm. The hats are also very cute and often help lend a sense of normalcy to the whole experience for parents. Because each hat is a gift to the family that they will take home with them when the baby goes home, we always need a new supply—and donations are greatly appreciated and treasured by the families that get to keep them. On behalf of the staff, families, and especially babies of the NICU at Vermont Children’s Hospital, we thank you!”
(If you would like more information, or if you would like to donate knitting supplies, please e-mail Amy Kreiger.)
As we’ve mentioned before, when our community members benefit from our students’ substantial efforts, they are more likely to support our students … and when our students feel supported, they are more likely to give back to their community. The entire community benefits when everyone commits to making ongoing positive contributions. There is a diverse and plentiful assortment of benefits associated with volunteerism, particularly among young people, and incorporating it into curriculum is a powerful way to introduce it in a way that allows students to see how their efforts can make a difference in their communities. Students in every school in the district regularly step up to contribute to our community’s greater good. Just a tiny sample of these contributions are as follows:
- A Porters Point School student raised funds to support local animal agencies.
- A group of Malletts Bay School students raised more than $1,515 for cancer research.
- CHS Cares champions an annual Thanksgiving food drive and offers ongoing community support by participating in activities like preparing dinner for guests of the Hope Lodge.
Happy Holidays!
Your schools and your town are working hard to engage our community. Please encourage your friends and family to subscribe to The Spotlight. When we’re all informed, we make a stronger community!
