Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Susie Pickering

Oak Lane Day School

137 Stenton Ave, Blue Bell, PA 19422

Phone: 610-825-1055

Fax: 610-825-9288

Email: spickering@oaklanedayschool.org

Community Service: St. Christopher's Hospital

A popular Community Service project at Oak Lane Day School is sewing and decorating cheerful, colorful pillows for children who have been hospitalized. This year, the pillows will be given to young surgery patients at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children. Jeannine Bray, Outreach Coordinator for St. Christopher's, visited Oak Lane to give the school community a slideshow tour of the hospital and explain some of the services the hospital offers. Ms. Bray also talked about how difficult and frightening it can be for a child to be in the hospital, and she praised the Oak Lane students' willingness to help alleviate that pain by creating and giving the hand-made pillows.

Community Service Program Director Sherry Shaeffer led the project, and on pillow-making day, Oak Lane students were hard at work. Days before, teachers and staff had prepared one hundred soft, flannel pillowcases which were then ready to be decorated, stuffed and sewn closed. Older students paired up with younger buddies, and, with great industry, the children eagerly worked together to make warm, cozy comfort pillows covered with happy pictures and encouraging words.

Oak Lane Day School undertakes nine community service projects over the course of the year. They involve making improvements to the environment and the lives of animals, and extending a helping hand to people in need. “This was a great day,” reported Sherry. “The kids really love to do projects that directly help other children.”

Oak Lane Day School Information

An independent elementary school, founded in 1916 and located in Blue Bell, Oak Lane Day School serves a diverse population of boys and girls. Oak Lane honors each child's unique individuality while fostering intellectual, creative, academic, and personal growth within a diverse community of active, engaged learners. Small class sizes and an atmosphere that encourages children to develop their academic and social skills are priorities at Oak Lane, where learning is a meaningful and joyous pursuit. Oak Lane's country-like property of 30 acres along Butler Pike and Stenton Avenue boasts a stream, pond, woods, meadows, and specimen trees as well as athletic fields and playgrounds.

Oak Lane Day School is accredited by the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS), and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS).