Boulan Middle School Students Honor Healthcare Workers

Thanksgiving this year took on a new meaning, as life is slowly returning back to normal, but understanding there is still lots of work to do on behalf of healthcare workers who remain on the front lines fighting COVID.

The “Connector Club” over at Boulan came up with an idea to show appreciation for healthcare workers and created a paper turkey (named Troy) mounted to the cafeteria wall, where each feather represented something a student could buy and contribute to be part of care packages that would be delivered the week before Thanksgiving to Troy Beaumont Hospital. “The students decided they wanted to do something Thanksgiving related that would bring our community together and express gratefulness,” said BPMS Connector Club co-advisor Megan Luther. So “Turkey Troy” was born with only two weeks before the holiday.

As feathers disappeared and donations poured in, students took an active role collecting and categorizing the items and filling decorated bags with goodies that included gift cards, hand lotion, tea, hot cocoa, travel mugs/thermoses, fuzzy socks, bath bombs, sleep masks, retractable pens, lip balms, scratch off lotto cards, and hard candies. 6th grade Connector Club member Meera Iyr was glad to be a part of this project, saying: “It felt good to show appreciation for people who are still working so hard to keep others healthy and our communities safe,” said Iyr.

Connector Club co-advisor Melissa Dodge was proud of the way students and staff stepped up to look outside themselves and care for others. This was a student-driven initiative that she and Luther were delighted to be a part of: “Megan and I were merely the ‘guides on the side’ helping to bring to life the ideas and dreams of our ‘Connectors,’” she said. “We saw them gather and grow this spark of an idea into a reality. Seeing them come together, compromise, organize, and value giving back to the community is a lifelong practice we feel proud to have been able to encourage in each and every single one of them.”

All together, Boulan’s Turkey Troy project impacted 26 heroes at Troy Beaumont, who were so pleased to be remembered in this way. Boulan’s Connector Club hopes this will become an annual tradition, perhaps with a new set of individuals receiving these packages each year.

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Photos courtesy of the Troy School District