Wyoming — With clinks of their crocheting needles, Parkview Elementary teacher Lori Schimmelmann and her fellow “knitting ladies” brought stocking hats to life from second-graders’ original designs.
Schimmelman and knitting club members Pat Whitfield and Winnie Kowalsk recently presented each student in Schimmelman’s class with a knitted hat designed from pictures students colored on the second day of school.
“They had no idea what they were for,” Schimmelman said of the quick coloring assignment she had her students complete when the weather was still hot and summery.
Around her, with the first snowflakes of the season falling outside, students tried on their new hats made of yarn in bold colors and topped with fluffy pom poms. Knitted by Schimmelmann and other members of the group, “Knitting for Others,” or, more casually, “the knitting ladies,” the hats will help keep the students warm over the winter months.
Students were surprised to see the colorful stripes they had added to their picture — bold hues and even a Dragon Ball Z logo in one instance — on their hats.
“I chose these colors for my school,” said Elanni Ortiz of her purple, black and grey hat, the colors of the Wyoming Wolves mascot.
Each student received a scarf knitted by the knitting ladies as well. The group also recently donated 600 hats through a local food truck distribution.
Maurice Sambrana smiled broadly while wearing his very colorful hat. “It’s cold outside and I can show it to my friends,” he said.
“It’s going to be so fluffy when I go outside,” added Brandt Perry.
The group, from Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Jenison, has knitted hats for Schimmelman’s students for the past decade, but this is the first year they used students’ designs, an idea Schimmelmann got from TikTok.
Schimmelman said the students will keep the hats and scarves at school so they always have them for recess.
She wants them to see generosity in action as well.
“I like them to understand that people do nice things for other people and don’t expect anything in return,” she said.
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