Students make quilt for child in hospital
By Staff Reports
Published in News on September 30, 2009 1:46 PM
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This quilt by Eastern Wayne Middle School students will be on display at the Wayne County Fair before it is presented to a child as part of a program that distributes quilts to seriously ill children. Pictured are students who worked on the quilt in Family and Consumer Science class. Front row from left, Akeyla Harris, Nicholas Richards, Mariah Stephens, Rachel Sperling and Michael Modica. Middle row, Kenya Darden, Kelli Sasser, Kayla Wiebe, Brooke Morawski, Jamal Barrett, Jeremy Parker, Ce'Tasha Hines, Katlyn Garris, Summer Woodard and Eddie Rubio. Back row, Devin Hall, Rachal Henricks, Luke Smith and Davis Houtzer.
Students in Jessica Horton's Family and Consumer Science class at Eastern Wayne Middle School have put their skills to use for more than just a grade.
Recently, students completed a quilt for the Raleigh chapter of Project Linus, which makes and distributes quilts to seriously ill or traumatized children.
Their finished product will be on display at the Wayne County Fair, which opens Oct. 1. The quilt will compete in the junior division quilting competition.
After the fair closes, it will be taken to a Raleigh area hospital, where it will be presented to a deserving child.
"This very special quilt was made this fall by 39 of my eighth grade Exploring Life Skill's students," said Ms. Horton. "Each student made at least one of the four-patch sections that you see, and they all worked to assemble and prepare the quilt for presentation."
This is the third quilt the school's Family and Consumer Science classes have completed for Project Linus. The project reflects how positive career and technical education programs can be for students and the community, Ms. Horton said.
"Last June, I received the most beautiful letter from a little girl named Caroline," she said. "She received our first Unity Quilt in Nov. 2008, while she was hospitalized at Rex Hospital with pneumonia. Caroline said she studied every patch in an attempt to get to know the other students, and that her favorite patch was the pink Tar Heels patch."
Likewise, the girl's mother was appreciative of the effort, Ms. Horton said.
"Caroline's mother also wrote to say that she believed that the quilt 100 percent played a role in her daughter's full recovery and that Caroline, now 6 years old, still seeks the quilt for comfort," she said. "It is the moments like these that remind me that not only do teachers teach, they continue to learn from others as well."