Acts of Kindness: Arlington's Boles Junior High Students Create Halloween Costumes for NICU Babies

By Susan Schrock, Office of Communication

Posted on October 28, 2019, October 28, 2019

With scissors, felt and glue, 7th and 8th grade students at Arlington ISD's Boles Junior High crafted tiny superhero capes, butterfly wings, and other colorful Halloween costumes for babies in the Methodist Dallas Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit.

Boles Junior High Student Council members partnered with students in Susan Berry’s class to make the assorted costumes, which were delivered to NICU parents over the weekend. Berry, an alternative curriculum teacher, got the idea for the holiday craft project while volunteering at the NICU where her daughter, Emily Seymour, is a certified registered nurse. Creating the costumes helps the students show off their skills while also showing kindness to families whose babies are hospitalized, Berry and Seymour said.

Some of the students’ creations included a peanut butter jar, a piece of candy corn and a mermaid tail.

“The kids got to pick some of their favorite characters, Minions and Captain America,” said Berry, adding that her students had looked at pictures of newborns and learn about babies who need extra medical attention before the craft project. “They are surprised at how small these costumes are, too. Just tiny pieces of felt that make these costumes.”

Ella Hanrattie, a 7th grade Student Council member, helped another student in Berry’s class assemble a Super Girl cape. Hanrattie spent time in the NICU herself when she was a newborn for a heart condition.

“It’s super adorable and such a great idea,” Hanrattie said of the costume project.

The City of Arlington, which launched a Kindness Initiative in 2017, applauds Boles Junior High School students and teachers for their work to make The American Dream City a kinder place to live, work, play and learn.

People are encouraged to report acts of kindness that they perform, witness or were the recipient of through the City’s Ask Arlington mobile app, on the Kindness Initiative web page, or by posting on social media using #ArlingtonKindness and @CityofArlington.

Click here to read more about Acts of Kindness occurring throughout The American Dream City.