First graders raising funds to cure cancer

SEELEY LAKE - After learning in social studies about the impact six-year-old Jane Addams had on the poor, Seeley Lake Elementary first graders decided they wanted to help people too. With their teacher Sheila Devin's assistance, the first graders sewed potholders from recycled materials which will be sold to raise money to cure childhood cancer.

Devins said the students were inspired by a social studies lesson on being a good neighbor. They learned that their community and the world are their neighbors. In 1866, Addams became determined at age six that she would help the poor. She went to the university at a time when most women did not go to school. She started Hull House in Chicago to help the poor and became known as the "mother of social work."

The first graders first thought selling ice cream was a good way to raise money since the Ice Cream Place was closed. Then a student brought in some small bags she had sewn on a real sewing machine and everyone wanted to learn to sew.

"I told the class I taught my sons to sew when they were about six and they sewed potholders," said Devins. "The first graders instantly wanted to do that and give the money to stop childhood cancer."

The fabric used to make the potholders was first used to cover bulletin boards. The inside fabric is a bolt of red toweling that was donated to the school and washed after being used to clean up a leaky roof.

The students are offering the potholders first to their families with a suggested donation of $2 each. There are about a dozen others that the students did combined work on that will be sold. First grade volunteer Victoria Elliott is willing to take the leftover materials and make more for the cause.

Devins added, "They are very excited and proud of their work."