By Dan Shriner
Review Editor
Children in the pediatric ward at Detroit Medical Center will be a little warmer and snug thanks to the boys and girls at St. Joseph Catholic School.
The kids have been putting together and tying fleece blankets all week to give to children battling cancer at the hospitals.
The undertaking is in part to help celebrate one of their fellow students, Will Pennanen, a second grader whose leukemia has been in remission since last year, and also provide warmth and comfort to children battling cancer.
Will’s family came up with the idea for St. Joseph’s students to participate and the kids embraced it.
According to Dana Pennanen, Will’s mother, ‘the ‘Will to Ty? blanket project ‘officially? began in 2010 by a few friends and colleagues I have taught with in Clarkston Community Schools. Within a week’s time, my son, Will, and another teacher’s son, Ty, were both diagnosed with cancer,? she said.
‘They wanted to reach out to us and found a way to help others at the same time. Since 2010, we have donated more than 500 blankets to DMC Children’s Hospital and have even added others along the way – Swan Cancer Center, RO Beaumont, Troy Beaumont, and McLaren.?
The blanket tying at St. Joseph’s this week was a pretty quick task for the students who all seemed to enjoy it. During one blanket-making session, a group of 19 second graders from Mary Kay Nusselt’s class descended on two blankets waiting to be joined into one that was atop a table.
Thirty Eight little hands nimbly tied the blankets together in quick fashion. Of course, a few of the girls needed to tell the boys the correct way to tie a fleece blanket together but within minutes the task was completed.
Will Pennanen, one of the second graders making the blanket, needed no one to show him the ropes.
The blankets have made their way to newly diagnosed cancer patients, siblings of kids going through treatment, hospice patients, and even to kids facing other illness and struggle. There is a Will to Ty Facebook page, at https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Will-to-Ty/213688041992539
On the page, people post about making donations to hospitals. Most of the blankets are being made and delivered by children in school projects across the region.
The blanket-making was one of several projects this week at St. Joseph’s in Catholic Schools Week.
St Joseph Catholic School, along with Catholic schools across the country, will observe Catholic Schools Week. The theme, ‘Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service,? will focus on the value that Catholic education provides to young people and its contributions to the Catholic Church, local communities and the nation.
Catholic Schools Week is an annual tradition that holds special memories for students and teacher.
‘It’s a week we celebrate being a Catholic school. Tthat means we are guided by God and Jesus- and we use that everyday?, said Joey Joppich, student council president and an eighth grader at the school.
Jennifer Bero, a longtime teacher at the school, said; ‘Students and teachers look forward to Catholic Schools Week each year. We enjoy the fun activities which allow us to celebrate all of the various groups that impact St Joseph School and those that we are allowed to impact as well. ?
Some of the events will include guest speakers visiting to speak about the role of faith in their professional careers. There also will be ‘spirit days? that allow students to have some fun with crazy hair, mismatched clothing and more. There was an open house last Sunday that kicked off the week.