As the saying goes, it’s better to give than to receive, and that’s the mindset SUNY Plattsburgh lecturer Wanda Haby’s first-year students committed to this past fall. The students spent four weeks in Haby’s seminar learning how to knit with a focus on community service, ultimately benefitting cancer patients at the Hospice of the North Country.
“This class is an overview, looking at how to make a difference in the world, becoming a positive agent for change,” Haby said.
During the unit, students made individual squares that were then knitted together into several large blankets. To teach the group 0f students how to knit, Haby invited six AmeriCrops senior volunteer “grandparents” to assist the class over the four week period. Although some students experienced difficulty in getting the hang of it, they found the experience to be rewarding.
“This unit was to knit blankets for other people and people in the hospital,” student Morgan Gescheidle said. “I was stressed that I did not have enough time to complete a full blanket. Sadly, I only made one square, but that wasn’t the idea — to make a whole blanket. The idea was to learn a new life skill and give back at the same time. Even though I had completed one square, which felt great, we still had donated tons of blankets with the help of our grandparents, and the combination of all our work in the class, and that was the biggest accomplishment of all.”
