SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Looking to spread some sunshine

by Davy James, Staff Writer
   Just as the sun returned warm temperatures to the area this week, some students at St. Augustine of Canterbury School are hoping to bring some sunshine into the lives of sick children at Robert Wood Johnson Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick.
   Third-graders at the school decorated shoe boxes, which they named Sunshine Boxes to fill with games, toys and get-well cards.
   ”The students were learning about caring for those who are sick and bringing joy to people’s lives,” said teacher Jillian Cleary in an e-mail. “We talked about how you can cheer people up and the students talked about giving people things that make them happy.”
   The students had two weeks to work on their boxes and poured themselves into the projects, according to classroom assistant Maureen Quigley, whose son is in the class.
   ”The kids were really excited about it and my son put a lot of work into it,” she said. “Judging by the other boxes brought in by the other students you could see the effort that was put into it.”
   The students were told to include items that they might enjoy themselves if they were in a similar situation, instead of just going to a toy store and picking items at random.
   ”We wanted them to put thought into it and use critical thinking,” Ms. Quigley said. “Like if they have a favorite book of their own to go get a new one to put into the box. We wanted them to give something they would enjoy that’s simple and worthwhile to the children.”
   Ms. Quigley said the staff hopes the project helps the students realize how fortunate they are and that there are children their own age in need of help.
   ”We hope they take away from this that there are kids who don’t have the opportunity to be in school learning and being among their peers,” she said. “We hope the kids in the hospital feel a little better knowing that someone their age is thinking about them.”