JESUP — Student leaders at Wayne County High School recently educated their peers on the importance of injury prevention and shared data related to young children’s emergency-room visits.
Once students were familiar with the information, they were invited to make boo-boo bunnies — wash cloths formed into bunnies that hold ice cubes for soothing aches and pains — for Wayne Memorial Hospital to have on hand for their smallest patients.
Hospital representatives collected more than 150 boo-boo bunnies to be used by local children. Each bunny was tagged with a cute poem and was individually signed by the student who created the gift for an upcoming patient.
“We were honored to be asked to take part in this project,” hospital CEO Joe Ierardi said. “It is always encouraging to see students get involved, and we are glad to be able to offer comfort to our smallest patients through these boo-boo bunnies while they are here at the hospital.”
The project was completed as part of The Youth in Community Summit. The summit included 14 students leading five rotating sessions about the importance of a safe school environment and college/career readiness skills in preparing for life after high school.
The students led their peers in activities related to financial planning, future planning, bullying prevention, interview skills and service learning.
The service learning project was added to the summit due to the results of a 2012 Wayne County High School survey in which 60 percent of students indicated that they did not feel connected to their community, and 77 percent felt that they did not make a good impact on their community.
“This project was a way for the students to connect with the community,” said April Lee, a parent mentor at the school.