Sending some comfort through school crafts

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Sending some comfort through school crafts

County News

Friday, 28 December 2012 16:23

By Peter Covino
Lifestyles Editor
It was an idea by Pleasant Hill Elementary School third grade teacher Donna Ulp that snowballed — literally.
Last week, in the days that followed the tragic killing of students and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., Ulp followed a link on her Facebook page that talked about making snowflakes for the children of Sandy Hook. A parent teacher organization in Connecticut got the idea to create snowflakes first hundreds, then thousands of decorated snowflakes to greet the youngsters of Sandy Hook when school is back in session in January. The elementary students will not be returning to Sandy Hook in the foreseeable future and will attend another school.
The parent teacher group wanted to make their new school as cheerful as possible and walk into a place transferred by thousands of handmade snowflakes, Ulp said.
So Ulp’s third grade class and the third grade class of Julie Strang began making snowflakes and it just caught on.
“I put it out to the school and everyone wanted to do something. They all just jumped on the bandwagon,” Ulp said.
“Pleasant Hill Elementary is a special place,” said Sallie Billiodeaux, school community liaison. “We are family.”
Soon the entire school was participating in the project.
As Pleasant Hill Elementary students got ready for their own holiday break on Dec. 21, there was a flurry of snowflake making with big envelopes full of paper snowflakes being brought over to Ulp’s classroom from other parts of the school.
The class really wants to help out, Ulp said of the project.
“We want their school to be a winter wonderland when the children return,” said third grader Clint Leonard.
Ulp’s classroom has been transformed into a bit of a winter wonderland itself as it has become a sort of clearinghouse for all of those snowflakes. In addition to making snowflakes of their own, the students have been placing the snowflakes in separate plastic bags with which classroom or group responsible for the paper blizzard written on the outside of the bag.
Ulp said the school will deliver more than 1,000 snowflakes for the project and that delivery will be free thanks to one of the school’s business partners – Pack and Ship.
Students at Pleasant Hill Elementary were affected by the mass shooting in Connecticut, Billiodeaux said. And in the days that followed the shooting, the school has some new policies, such as making sure classroom doors are locked so someone cannot gain entrance from the outside.
You don’t have to be a student or staff member at Pleasant Hill Elementary to participate in the snowflake project. Everyone is welcome to send snowflakes.
Crafters across the nation are making paper snowflakes as well as knitting and crocheting them or other artistic endeavors.
Sandy Hook snowflakes and other donations (The Sandy Hook PTA also is collecting monetary, product, and service donations) may be sent to this address before January 12: Connecticut PTSA, 60 Connolly Parkway, building 12, Suite 103, Hamden, CT 06514.
“Don’t you wish you could be there to see the smiles on the faces of those children when they sell all those snowflakes,” Ulp said, as her own students sealed up yet one more plastic bag of snowflakes bound for Connecticut.