STERLING As part of a service project that began more than 100 miles from Sterling, a group of students from Sterling High School are learning a new skill.
The Knitty Gritty Project teaches students how to knit scarves, which are subsequently donated to nearby elementary schools, according to Lauren Fritz, an English teacher at SHS. Recently, Fritz’s pupils gave Franklin Elementary School 105 scarves, which is enough for every first-grader.
Late August is when students start knitting, and they keep going until winter break. But according to Fritz, the children who persevere in the project love it so much that they frequently knit on a daily basis during their free time.
Fritz remarked, “I only teach them how to knit; they learn everything else on their own at home.” This year, one of my girls knitted thirty scarves. Amazingly, the kids run with it. After that, my children would knit items like that purse, even if I didn’t teach them how to do it. They simply work things out.
According to Fritz, Andrea Velasquez and her seventh-grade students began the initiative in 2003 in Solon, Iowa.
“There was a woman who was a part of Flight 93 when 9/11 happened,” Fritz stated. Lauren Grancolas was her name, and she was expecting a child. She was working on a book about learning a new skill on your own. Teaching oneself to knit was one of the topics covered in her unfinished book. Thus, the effort began when her husband sent the book to Andrea’s class.
After Velasquez continued the project, her children chose to contribute their scarves in response to the tragic Sandy Hook School shooting in December 2012. But this was at a time when the Sandy Hook community was no longer accepting gifts, Fritz added. Thus, the children gave the scarves to low-income primary school pupils in the area.
Velasquez continued the project alongside Fritz, who was also teaching at Cedar Rapids at the time, after relocating to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 2020. After graduating from SHS in 2015, Fritz brought the curriculum with her when she returned to teach at SHS in 2023.
Fritz remarked, “I teach them either during their lunch, my prep, or if they finish early in class.” “These instructors have been outstanding. Our children are able to knit during class, but they put the materials away as soon as they say, “Okay, materials away.” That doesn’t bother us. As a result, you will notice children carrying knitting supplies about the school.
In order to promote inclusion by mixing students with impairments with their peers in regular education, Fritz has since broadened the concept to include SHS’s Life Skills pupils.
Fritz stated, “I’ll have one of my students help them fix it on the fly if I have a kid in Life Skills that messed up.” “That’s fantastic because they’re interacting with one another, offering support, and learning how to work with a student who has a disability—something they don’t often get to do.”
Fritz is asking her students to discover which area schools are in need of the scarves before they start knitting this year.
According to Fritz, local donations and an annual grant from the Sterling Schools Foundation help the project stay stocked with knitting supplies and needles.
