• Education

And sew it is: Beacon Hill girls craft quilts for mothers with newborns

• Dave Mast
• March 7, 2018
• 428

A big part of the experience for students grade 7-12 at Beacon Hill Community School in Mt. Eaton is education. However, just as important is teaching the youth how to embrace the satisfaction of giving back to the community through service.

While Beacon Hill youth are provided with two days to go out into the area and perform community service, the eighth-grade girls went above and beyond in their recent project. The girls broke out the sewing machines beginning this past December and crafted some colorful, beautiful quilts that they will in turn donate to the Mt. Eaton Care Center and Midwifery so mothers can provide their newborn infants with a blanket of their own.

Each student made their own quilt, many of them opting to sew together blocked quilts with each block being 6-inch squares and the quilts being eight blocks by eight blocks in size.

Teacher Jayne McGrew provided the girls with all of the material they would need, much of it courtesy of donations from community businesses that support Beacon Hill.

The girls could then choose the color scheme and patterns they wanted to use, and none of the girls had quilted before the project began, though they had used sewing machines.

“It was pretty new to all of us, but it was a good learning experience, and I like that the quilts are going to go to a new baby,” eighth-grader Hannah Yoder said.

The quilts were actually pieced with white flannel on the inside, surrounded by the quilted flannel layers on the outside. The pieced quilts were designed to wash, creating a frayed look, and they were incredibly soft and warm.

Emily Raber said picking and choosing the material was part of the fun of the project and said that knowing they were creating something special for a mother and child was a driving force in doing the very best job they could do in creating the quilts.

“You want to do the best you can because it is for someone else,” Raber said.

Most of the quilts are complete, even as a couple of the girls finish up their projects. McGrew will soon deliver the quilts to the center, where they will await to serve a huge purpose and perhaps become a keepsake for a child for years to come.

While the girls will probably never know the infant who will receive their blanket, it is a satisfying feeling for them to know they have done their best to make a positive impact in their community.

“One of the most important aspects of what we want to portray to the students at Beacon Hill is that it is important to give back to their community in ways that are meaningful,” said Sheila Norris Hanna, Beacon Hill principal. “Not only does it do that, projects like this are teaching the students real-life skills that they can take with them throughout life. Whether it is the boys developing woodworking skills, the girls sewing or participating in our cupcake wars where they get to make and decorate cupcakes, or students working in the greenhouse, we like to help students here learn valuable skills that might help them develop a passion for something that they can explore as a career later in life.”

While the center and newborn infants and their mothers will reap the benefits of these caring gifts, the girls will now look forward to crafting a quilt for themselves as the next project.

Beacon Hill Community School is located at The Pier, located at 10470 Winesburg Road, 1-mile south of Mt. Eaton. The school will host an informational open house evening Tuesday, April 10 from 6:30-7:30 p.m., where families can drop by, become more familiar with the school and what it offers, and ask questions. For more information or to schedule a time slot during the informational meeting, the public may call Tammy Graf at 330-359-5600.

Beacon Hill’s unique, hands-on learning atmosphere and its flexible educational programming has been a perfect fit for young people looking to increase their knowledge and abilities in career fields. A blend of traditional classroom learning and eLearning programs has been enticing for many of the school’s students.

While Beacon Hill has developed its educational curriculum and grown in numbers since the school first started in 2011, the goal of creating a learning atmosphere that is conducive to growth in real-life experiences remains intact.

“We are excited about the direction we are heading and all of the wonderful opportunities our students are getting to enhance their educational experience and develop leadership skills,” Norris Hanna said.