Members of Widdifield Secondary School's business class, special education class and hockey team prepare another order of hand knitted hats for charity. Photo by Dennis Chippa.
It’s a combination that literally has hooked some students at Widdifield.
Students from the school’s business class, and members of the hockey team, have set up a mini-business knitting and selling hats for charities.
To do it, they joined with some of the school’s special education students, who have been knitting hats for weeks.
Colleen Southwind loves it.
“I thought it looked pretty cool, so I just started helping.Then I got used to it and used to it and I got the hang of it. Sometimes I take mine home and finish it there”
Averian Langford agrees,saying he likes the idea that it’s helping out others.
He also admits he’s getting quite good at it.
“I had a lot of fun making them. The first one I made it took me three days to make. I had fun making it. But I’m a little quicker.”
Matt McLellan and his classmates had to come up with a plan for his business management class.
When he was approached by Jared Hunt, the Special Education teacher, about marketing homemade hats, he was more than interested.
“I just got some of the guys from the hockey team and what’s better than having a couple of guys from the hockey team build some hats and raise some money for kids that don’t get Christmas presents.”
The students worked with Operation Northern Elves, which is a charity through the Children’s Aid Society.
Hailey Peck, a co-op student at Widdifield, acted as both the liaison between the groups and the knitting instructor.
“We went out and bought some looms and bought some yarn and started to teach the students how to do it. From there we can involve the business class like this and this can be our fundraiser. From there it evolved into this massive fundraiser which is awesome.”
“It is so easy to do. We can make hats in two hours.”
The knitters have made sure not only that dozens of children under care of CAS get a hat, but by selling extra hats, raised money for Northern Elves as well.
Hunt loves the idea of putting the hockey team. and the business students together with the special education students, recognizing it’s a great mix for a group that may not mix within normal school social circles.
Hunt says the project has worked well, and he now wants to expand it to raise money for other charities.
In fact, the project may be almost too successful.
Hunt says the knitters now are running out of yarn.
“We have loomers, hat knitters, yarn workers but now we need yarn. So I think the concept of crowdsourcing is kind of neat. Asking communities to participate, whether it is the school community or the community beyond the school to either make hats or contribute yarn. It always can lead to these sorts of charitable efforts.”
Hunt says the knitters could also use more looms.
Anyone wishing to donate can drop off their yarn to the Widdifield School Office.
