Armstrong students send holiday cheer to kids in the hospital
Elementary students created activity books for children in UR Medicine’s Golisano Children’s Hospital, making 300 of them to donate to patients ahead of the holiday season.
The idea came from Brooke Marciano, a teacher at Neil Armstrong Elementary School, who was looking for a way to give back to younger students in the community.
She led the service learning project for the entire grade level, which included students learning about the importance of giving back and the services provided by Golisano Children’s Hospital.
“I chose Golisano Children's Hospital because I personally know children who have spent time in the hospital, and our school has had students spend time in the hospital, so it hit home for a lot of [our students],” she explained.
The students then decided what they wanted to do for the children in the hospital.
“I didn’t know that [patients] wouldn’t be able to go home for the holiday, that they’d be in the hospital the whole time. We’re trying to help so they can celebrate their special holidays,” expressed third-grader Angelina Nesenchuk.
It was a flurry of activity inside of Brooke Marciano’s third-grade class where Angelina and her classmates put together books of crossword puzzles, coloring pages and word searches. Their teacher explained the idea to make the activity books came from the students in their grade level.
“It is special to do this for kids in the hospital, they don’t want to lay around. I hope they smile and have fun with it,” shared third-grader Alana Colon.
As a grade level, students set a goal to make 200 books to donate. They exceeded that goal, with teachers hand delivering 300 activity books to children in the hospital on Thursday.