Students Create Hearts Hallway at South Brunswick High

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ - Anyone who has been inside South Brunswick High School in the past couple of weeks, may have noticed a gradual culmination of pink and red hearts being stenciled and painted along the walls of the first floor B hall. The idea for the Hearts Hallway was first initiated by the Students for Public Health Club, formerly known as the American Red Cross Club.

“When we were informed about the campaign, we chose to focus it around hearts. A bunch of us stayed after school and painted hearts for about two weeks, it was pretty cool. We got projectors and heart templates, projected the shapes onto the wall, traced them, and then painted.” said Students for Public Health club members freshman Jake Lund and sophomore Caroline Pascasio.

School Nurse and Students for Public Health Club Advisor Mrs. Donna Moreen said, “We were looking for a campaign and one of our presidents put it in her application for vaccinating a village, so we went with that idea and started a campaign.”

The campaign focuses on the harmful effects of both the measles and rubella.

“[Measles is] one of the most contagious diseases. If you were to walk into a room now, you had measles, and went out, five hours later whoever came into that room could get the measles, because the virus just lingers in the air and causes disabilities. The rubella virus kills people and causes severe birth defects if they don’t receive this vaccine as well,” said Nurse Moreen.

The Measles and Rubella Initiative, an organization working with the American Red Cross, CDC, UNICEF, the United Nations, and the World Health Organization, helps to battle both the measles and rubella by vaccinating one child for just $2. This vaccination, according to the initiative, is “one of the most cost-effective health interventions available… [and] more than 2 billion doses of measles vaccine have been delivered to children in 88 countries with support from the Measles and Rubella Initiative.”

Although the initiative cannot disclose to which village South Brunswick will be donating, UNICEF is a major contributor to this project and the donations will be going through this organization.

“There is an immunization schedule which targets certain villages, and it’s a huge, huge operation that has been going on for many months now,” said Nurse Moreen.

As for the Hearts Hallway, the idea for the shape of a heart came from both the club as well as its advisors.

Nurse Moreen said, “We started a campaign and just from brainstorming, Mrs. Orlando said, ‘Let’s do hearts!’, and it just evolved from there. We asked Mr. Varela if we could paint the hearts hallway and dedicate each heart for $5 to vaccinate a village through the Measles and Rubella Initiative.”

"We have raised over $3,000 dollars so far and are still selling hearts!" she added.

The Hearts Hallway took about two weeks to be stenciled and painted by the students. Although the hallway is not completely adorned with hearts as of yet, there are plans to spread the pink and red hearts out to the end of the hallway. They have certainly brightened up the hallway, all while symbolizing an important cause!

“I think that the Hearts Hallway is a really creative idea and a good way for the Students for Public Health club to raise more money for the campaign. It’s a good feeling, knowing that our school is making a difference in so many lives.” said Junior Gabriella Borredon.

Students have already brought more color to most of the hearts and adorned them with intricate designs and names.

After Junior Emma Roney decorated her heart, she said, “It was so much fun to get to leave my mark on the school while helping others.”

So, for the donation of $5, students and staff can decorate their own hearts in the Hearts Hallway and look back at it for years to come, remembering that their contribution helped to prolong the precious life of a child somewhere in the world.