CPS Makes "A Case for Smiles"

The students at CPS took on a project aimed at making a difference in the life of sick children. Supporting an organization called ConKerr Cancer, students made cheerful pillowcases for children in hospitals suffering from cancer.

ConKerr Cancer is an organization started two years ago by Cindy Kerr, whose son, Ryan, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (a rare bone cancer). She began making him and the other children at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia bright, colorful pillowcases to liven up their rooms. Soon others joined her, and ConKerr Cancer was created. Through volunteers like our students, this organization has donated over 30,000 pillowcases to children in hospitals throughout North America.

CPS students decided to lend a hand in this inspirational endeavor. First, students picked out the fabric they would like to use--baseball or butterfly prints, or flannel with undersea creatures, among many others. Then, with the help of an adult volunteer, they used a sewing machine to stich the fabric into a cheery pillowcase. The students wrote letters to the child who would receive their pillowcase, often including drawings of themselves or of something that makes them feel happy. The second graders each took on a pre-k student to work with, whom they helped through the process.

Every child making a pillowcase was thrilled to be able to do so, and not just because the sewing machine's foot pedal felt like driving a race car!  One student said, while sewing a seam, "It feels good to help someone else." Another asked if he could visit the sick children, too, to try to make them feel better. One first grader was hugging her pillowcase while she wrote her letter. When asked why, she said she wanted to put as much love as she could into it before it was given to a sick child.