When two
White's Tower Elementary School teachers were diagnosed with cancer in the same week, teachers were at a loss for words when discussing the issue with their students.
After a letter went home explaining the situation and notifying parents that the two teachers would be taking a leave of absence, students had a lot of questions, according to
Jessica Blust, a fourth grade teacher and co-sponsor of the White's Tower student council.
"I had to personally regain composure and really think through my thoughts before giving that information to the kids," Blust says.
After discussing the issue, however, Blust says the first things that came to the students' minds were ways in which they could help.
"We realized that there wasn't a whole lot we could do for them as far as raising money," Blust says. "But they wanted to do something for them, and not knowing what to do, they said, 'Can't we do something for kids? Can kids get cancer?' And that whole discussion came up, which led to research, and that's when they found
Project Linus."
Project Linus is a nonprofit that provides homemade blankets as a source of comfort to children who have been diagnosed with cancer.
So White's Tower's student council set the goal of raising enough money to make five blankets. The group of 18 third-, fourth- and fifth-graders decided to sell cotton candy to raise enough money for supplies to start making the blankets.
"The kids got order forms and then sent them in, and we as a student council took the opportunity to teach some economics concepts," Blust says.
The group created a marketing team that advertised the cotton candy by going to the morning classes and talking about the sale and why they were doing it—the kids also got on the morning announcements and talked about the sale. They have a sales team who delivers the orders, a production team who creates the blankets, and a distribution team who is going to help the student council deliver the blankets.
Instead of delivering five blankets, however, the students exceeded their goal and raised enough money to create 25 blankets, which they have been crafting after school for the past few weeks at their student council meetings. One of those blankets will be given to one of White's Tower's own—a young girl, who no longer attends the school, but is still part of the White's Tower family, Blust says.
"We just wanted her to know that even though she's no longer at White's Tower—her brother still is—the love we still have for her is in that blanket," says Blust. "And we just want to bring her some comfort as she's going through treatments, and even though she's suffering, maybe this brings her just a little bit of happiness."
Do Good:
• Make a
donation to your local chapter of Project Linus.
• Become a
volunteer with your local chapter of Project Linus.
•
Order a blanket kit through Project Linus so that you, too, can help to provide comfort to a child with cancer.
By Brittany York
Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.