First day of school jitters were short-lived at the Brockport Migrant Education Project Summer School, says Principal Betty Svitavsky, as kindergarten and first-grade students picked out their own brightly colored homemade quilt. The Orleans County Quilt Guild, Hilton Heart and Hand Quilting Club and other volunteer quilters, made more than 30 quilts, all in child appealing colors and images. This is the second year these groups have undertaken this project and they plan to make it an annual event. Janet Root, president of the Orleans group and Kendall resident, suggested the project. A quilt creation workshop day for this project was held for guild members early in June at the Root house. The Hilton group, under the direction of Sue Durfee, joined in the effort after hearing about the project last year. "It was really fun watching to see which youngster would pick which quilt," Karen Richardson said. Once a child chose a quilt, members helped them write their names on the "made especially for ..." labels sewn into each quilt. The children will take their quilts home at the end of summer school. The six-week school serves children of migrant farm workers, with students ranging from those who will start kindergarten in the fall to students who completed seventh grade. There are more than 150 students enrolled. "What made this project so special is that many of the women involved with it could actually see the children getting the quilts," Root said. "Usually, when we're donating like this, you don't get to see the recipients. So this was great for us to do." Anyone interested in joining either group or contributing to this project may contact Root at 659-2877. |
