By Thia James

Turgeon students give back and get recognized

Dec 17, 2014 | 6:20 AM

A classroom at W.F.A. Turgeon Catholic Community School was filled with excited Grade 3 students who were recognized for their contest-winning poster on Tuesday morning.

The students in Donna Ostmoen’s class created a poster for the Give a Little Life day contest. This year’s Give a Little Life day campaign supported the pediatric and nursery units at the Victoria Hospital.

For the poster, the students decorated envelopes with unique designs and wrote messages of support on cards tucked inside. The cards contained messages that included “be safe” and “get well soon.” It and other contest entries will soon be put on the walls of the pediatric unit.

Ostmoen said the students were learning about nice things they could do for others in one of their religion classes. She said when they found out about the contest, it was an opportunity to do something nice for other kids at the hospital.

She and another teacher, Nicole Neisz, came up with the idea of decorating each envelope with a heart. The students came up with the expressions for the individual cards in the envelopes.

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The students have said they’re happy and proud of themselves for giving back, according to Ostmoen.

“It’s great to see them doing something nice and feeling good about it,” she said.

They’re also aware their poster will bring joy to other children.

“That was one of the things, because some of them have been sick and in the hospital, so they know what it feels like,” she said. “So, it was just a nice little thing for them to do, knowing that it’s going to make someone else feel really good.”

The students themselves were excited about the pizza party held for them as a reward for winning the contest. The party was provided by Parkland Ambulance, a sponsor of the Give a Little Life day event.

Parkland Ambulance’s Lyle Karasiuk said the Victoria Hospital, and its pediatric and nursery units are near and dear to the paramedics.

He said the pizza party is a unique way for them to engage with the kids.

“But it’s more importantly a way for us to engage with the kids and support the [Victoria] Hospital Foundation because first of all, we’re building volunteer capacity. These Grade 3 students don’t realize that, but we are in some way helping them give back to the community and showing to them that there are people who in some small way, by this poster exercise, can appreciate their time and their talents,” Karasiuk said.

The students were greeted by Terry the Parkland Ambulance mascot, who helped Karasiuk and Victoria Hospital Foundation executive director Sherry Buckler thank the students for their artistic contribution.

Buckler said it’s the first time the foundation has done something like this contest, especially involving young students in the city.

“We feel it was just immensely successful from the perspective of forming a good, positive, warm relationship between the young people and our hospital.

“The response was just overwhelming and the hearts that these children showed [were] powerful, and we’re just really happy and proud to be part of a community where the young people step up the way that they did and show how much they already care at such a young age.”

The foundation will continue to hold the contest in future years and hang the winning posters in the pediatric ward or elsewhere in the hospital. Buckler said she’d love to decorate the unit with the artwork of local children.

“I think that that is a wonderful message for the young ones in the hospital to know that there’s other kids out there that wish them well and want them to be healthy and safe and to go home soon. “

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames