Art Students Prepare Wreaths for Senior Citizens

To kick off the giving season, senior citizens in two local nursing homes will be receiving hand crafted wreaths early in December.

Progressive Home Health, a Monaca based home health care agency serving senior citizens in the local counties, has teamed up with the art students at Lincoln High School to create wreaths to give to local elderly patients for Christmas.

Emily Morris, a worker for Progressive Home Health, said in previous years they have had grade school students make cards for the patients, but this is the first year they have been able to coordinate the wreath project.

In the process of becoming a wreath

“My students are making wall/door hangers for the patients at two local nursing homes. Emily approached me at our Open House at school, as I have her daughter in one of my classes. She asked if I had some students who would be interested in making Christmas decorations for nursing home patients to help them feel more in the holiday spirit and make them feel more at home,” Amanda Hatkevich, the Lincoln High School Fine Arts teacher stated.

To create the wreaths, students create templates or tracers to trace onto poster board, they then draw the designs on the insides of the traced outlines and paint them. Once painted, they will cut them out, hot glue them to another piece of cut out poster board, stuff them with paper, hot glue them shut, punch holes in the top, and add a wire for hanging.

In the process of becoming a wreath

It may sound like a lot of work, but the students are enjoying it, Hatkevich said.

“They’re loving it. Especially because they get to paint in classes they normally don’t get to paint in.”

Not only are the students loving it, Morris said the patients always look forward to getting gifts, especially from students.

The students have been volunteering their time to make the wreaths and are expected to have as many as 100 to give out.

If anyone would like to also donate a wreath or Christmas gift, Progressive Home Health is happy to take donations! Contact Emily Morris at 724-774-8245.

Photos submitted