FCS teacher Wendy Neyland is no stranger to the NICU. Her youngest daughter was in a NICU unit for two months. She keeps that time in mind when she plans projects with her students, including a crocheting project the classes are working on this fall: crocheted preemie hats.

“There was a girl in the hospital that made the hats,” Neyland said. “The nurses went around delivering them.”

Neyland plans to donate the hats to Baylor Scott & White NICU for preemie babies.

“It’s a pick-me-up,” Neyland said. “It’s reassuring to parents with babies in NICU. I went to see [my daughter] and she had the little hat on her head.”

For some of the students, it is not their first exposure to crocheting.

“I love to crochet; crocheting connects me to my past,” sophomore Sonia Esquivel said. “I remember going to my grandma’s house after school, and I would make long chains with her colorful yarn.”

The students love that they will be making a difference while learning a new skill.

“The preemie beanies we’re making are so much fun,” Esquivel said. “It makes me feel like a good person helping others and donating things to people who need it.”