Nolan English, Graham Cole, and Rachel Kulp, students at McLean High School, working on their knitting projects. Photo by Amanda Mullet
McLean High School Senior Amanda Mullet is working hard to bring both stress relief and a new hobby to her neighbors and friends through her Girl Scout Gold Award Project. As someone who has often struggled with stress and anxiety, Amanda felt that she wanted her 80-hour service project to help others dealing with these difficulties, particularly in her high school. She set about teaching her friends and peers how to knit, a hobby which has been found to provide serious relaxation and anti-stress benefits, teaching a healthy coping mechanism as well as a fun new hobby.
Even during this time of social distancing, she continues to work over video-communication platforms to check in on the progress of her students, and is offering free yarn to those interested in learning to knit during the mandatory quarantine. She hopes that any knitters in the community would consider helping with her project by knitting some smaller projects such as hats for her to donate to ASPAN, the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network, which provides a great deal of services, including donated clothing, to those dealing with homelessness in the community. Those interested in learning how to knit can access her Google Classroom page (with classroom code hkapgxr) which provides detailed videos, instructions, and recommends supplies (which can be ordered off of Amazon) to those interested in picking up a new hobby during these stressful times. She just asks that those who decide to work towards learning to knit consider donating some of their finished projects to her Gold Award collection, which she will then count, process, and donate on to ASPAN.