The Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Pathways Academy Student Council recently found a way to show appreciation to local healthcare workers at two facilities by donating baskets of goodies to them.
The Pathways Academy Student Council regularly focuses on projects to give back to the community, and the idea to give to local health professionals came up during one of the council meetings with Pathways students and the Student Council co-advisors: teaching assistant Cheri Evangelista and art teacher Dina DeSarro.
“During this pandemic, nurses, doctors and hospital staff have given us their all tirelessly,” Evangelista said, “and we wanted to show them how much we appreciate them.”
The Pathways Academy Student Council organized a donation effort across the school, and four large baskets were filled with goodies. Two baskets were donated to Little Falls Hospital, and two were given to Primary Care Urgent Care in Herkimer.
The Pathways Academy at the Herkimer BOCES Remington Educational Complex in Ilion focuses on students who have had a difficult time in a traditional school structure or have to catch up on credits but have the ability to get a high school diploma. Pathways Academy classes are project-driven and infuse career and technical education.
This is the third school year the Pathways Academy Student Council has been operating. Many projects are aimed at contributing to the community – such as donating to Feed Our Vets in the fall and giving treats to healthcare workers recently.
To make the donation effort fun and a challenge, Student Council leaders made it into a competition. The classes that brought in the most goodies for healthcare workers would receive a pizza party put on by Evangelista and DeSarro. The classrooms of Heather Miller and Cathy Eysaman won the pizza parties.
“The amount of goodies for our basket was incredible and ended up filling four baskets,” Evangelista said. “We split the goods right down the line and picked two medical facilities that we would like to show our appreciation.”
Teacher Adam Spatto’s Trade Industries II class at Pathways Academy built a wooden crate for one of the baskets that was donated to Little Falls Hospital.
“When asked if he could make something for us to put the goodies, in he jumped at the chance to help out, and the students were proud to make something that was going to be shown off somewhere else and put to good use,” Evangelista said.
Little Falls Hospital staff members were overjoyed about how many goodies they received, Evangelista said.
“What better way to say thank you than food?” Evangelista said. “Staff in the medical fields are working without breaks or lunches, and we wanted to give them something they can grab and eat on the go.”
Primary Urgent Care staff members were also excited that someone thought of them during this “crazy time,” Evangelista said.
“They have been the ones doing a lot of the testing in our community on top of all the other emergencies that come their way,” she said.
Little Falls Hospital staff pose with baskets of goodies donated to healthcare workers through a collection organized by the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Pathways Academy Student Council.
Primary Urgent Care staff in Herkimer pose with baskets of goodies donated to healthcare workers through a collection organized by the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Pathways Academy Student Council.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Trade Industries II teacher Adam Spatto poses with his students Evan Aney, Veronica Cavaretta, Alexei Zaikoff and Jaden Sebastian and a wooden crate they made for the Herkimer BOCES Pathways Academy Student Council to collect treats to donate to local healthcare workers.
The Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Pathways Academy classroom of Cathy Eysaman (with some students pictured here) was one of two classes to win a pizza party for donating the most items to the Pathways Academy Student Council’s efforts to collect goodies for local healthcare workers.
The Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Pathways Academy class of Heather Miller (with Miller and a student pictured here) was one of two classes to win a pizza party for donating the most items to the Pathways Academy Student Council’s efforts to collect goodies for local healthcare workers.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Pathways Academy Student Council advisors Cheri Evangelista and Dina DeSarro pose with Little Falls Hospital staff and baskets of goodies donated to healthcare workers through a collection organized by the Pathways Academy Student Council.
Little Falls Hospital set out baskets of goodies donated by the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Pathways Academy Student Council in the hospital cafeteria for staff to enjoy.