Sophomores and juniors recently dedicated their theology class to cutting and tying fleece blankets, with the help of Mrs. Deborah Gretzinger, to send out into the Green Bay community. 

The blankets went to Sleep In Heavenly Peace on September 10 during their latest bed build. Sleep in Heavenly Peace is a nonprofit that builds and delivers beds to children who don’t have a place to sleep. 

Mrs. Gretzinger chose to have her students help make the blankets for numerous reasons. She believes that it’s important to embody and act as a model of service for her students: “Do as I say AND as I do.” As service is one of NDA’s core values, it’s important to implement it into the classroom. 

“I believe that students should be actively living out their faith. Not all students have the ability to drive to local service opportunities, so I decided to bring one to them,” said Gretzinger. 

The students greatly appreciated and enjoyed the opportunity to get to help serve others during school hours. Throughout all classes students shared how fun and rewarding the process was. 

“It was really fun to be able to talk to my friends while making the blankets, and they looked so cool when they were done. Kids were already using them one week later!” said Mia Miller, a sophomore. 

Not only were the students able to work together to create the blankets, but they were able to help a child in need. 

“My favorite part of making the blankets was that I was able to help kids less fortunate than me by making them something that they can always have with them for warmth and comfort,” said sophomore Delaney Mcinnis. 

Mrs. Gretzinger is already planning on having students make blankets in the future. And, as a Catholic school, this project was also able to serve as a teaching lesson for students. It showed students how to collaborate together “to work towards building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society.” 

Gretzinger also emphasized how we are able to do this by living out the eight  themes of Catholic Social Teaching.

“In this one service opportunity, we are bringing to light the life and dignity of the human person, we are seeking the common good through the call to family, community, and participation, and we are answering the call to address the option for the poor and vulnerable,” said Gretzinger. 

The blankets have already been distributed throughout the community, and students were able to see where some of their blankets wound up. This was one of Mrs. Gretzinger’s favorite parts about the whole project: seeing how excited the students were when they saw where their work and service actually went. 

“The students could see the smiles and joy on the children’s faces and several students exclaimed, ‘Hey, I made that one!’ when they recognized a blanket in one of the pictures,” said Gretzinger.