Fifth-grade teacher Shelia McCounnaughey feels so comfortable talking with her students about her cancer she has a name for her wig as well as her tumor, which is shrinking as a result of treatments.
"I have cancer, and my students know that. They know my wig, it's called 'Sherry,'" she said.
This crash course on the effects of cancer was relevant, as she was among a group of her students at the Happy Hats production morning at Springfield Estates Elementary School, Saturday, Feb. 9. Happy Hats is a program in which children make colorful, jester-style hats for other children who may have experienced hair loss, as from medical treatments for cancer.
"Are you going to wear a hat to school?" asked class member Geoff Pietrovito, 11.
Lisa Baez, 11, noted her knowledge of the teacher’s illness.
"We call him [the tumor] Ragnar. He used to be this big, and now he's that big," she said, making a circle with her fingers.
Springfield Estates guidance counselor Carolyn Gibson noted the educational aspect McCounnaughey's students were getting.
"That's one of the character traits we focus on — caring," she said.
<mh>Innovation
<bt>Happy Hats was the brainstorm of Susan and Ali Khorsand, who started the concept in 1997. Since then they have enlisted 370,000 students and made about 60,000 hats. The "Hats" in Happy Hats stands for Helping Adolescents to Succeed. They contribute the hats to Inova Fairfax Hospital, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Children’s Hospital, Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health.
Their program has reached out to students and patients in Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maine, Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey and Maryland, as well as Virginia.
Susan Khorsand addressed the students before arming them with sewing machines and scissors.
"Everyone's here to help those kids that are sick, and I think that's great. Use the 'I can do it' attitude, that's the same energy the children get in the hospital," she said.
Her husband, Ali, was instrumental in the program as well.
"They know these hats are made by other kids. We want to send a message to them to get well. This is part of healing in the hospital," he said.
Springfield Estates Elementary School and Garfield Elementary pooled their efforts for a Happy Hats production line. Both schools are in the Lee District Pyramid. There were 20 students from Garfield and 42 from Springfield Estates at the 16 tables they had set up. Khorsand used terms like “circumference” and “parallel lines” to explain the process and give a geometry lesson as well.
"We're going to make some big hats for kids that didn't put on their helmet when they rode their skateboards and got a head injury," Khorsand said.
Teachers from Garfield and Springfield Estates incorporated the five principles from their "Community of Caring" lesson in the exercise. The five principles are family, responsibility, respect, caring and honesty.
"Character education is something that's ongoing. It's a concrete way to say we care," said Springfield Estates principal Susan Garrison. She hoped the students gained such values as public health, civic-mindedness, entrepreneurship, inclusion, education and work-force readiness. The words were at the center of the Happy Hats pie chart explaining the benefits. Participation also counts toward community service hours that are required for a government class for the high-school-age children.
<mh>Firsthand Experience
<bt>Becky Scheip, 9, was standing alongside Hanna Davis, 9, putting the final touches on some of the hats at the accessories table. Scheip knew the value of the hats because she was a recipient of one last summer when she was hospitalized with kidney problems.
"I wore it during surgery. It made me happy. Mine had a peace sign, I still have it," she said.
Her mother, Kathy Scheip, noted the impact the hat had in the ward at Inova Fairfax last summer.
"The entire ward seemed to be lifted. It put smiles on all the kids’ faces," she said.
Hunter Bronder was at their table as well. He shared his perception on the hats.
"They're in the hospital watching TV, and they get a hat. It makes them happy," he said.
The Happy Hats program is funded by a federal grant that flowed through the state for character education, according to Garrison. At its Web site, www.glorieshappyhats.org, there is information about the program plus an application to send a Happy Hat to someone in need.