Massapequa Students Build Story Toy For Pediatric Patients

There's quite a story behind this Story Box.

Students from three Massapequa High School classes recently joined to create an interactive project for pediatric patients at Winthrop Hospital.

“The inspiration for this project came from a little girl named Sadie Freifeld,” Massapequua sculpture teacehr Penny Schneider said. “She is a courageous five-year-old from Merrick who receives treatment at Winthrop for a rare blood cancer she has had since she was three."

Students from Schneider's sculpture class helped design the Story Box which has four sides made up of interactive tools and toys that patients can play with. 

The sculpture class passed templates for the project to a techmology class, whichbuilt the wooden box and the four panels. The sculpture students then painted, assembled the components and coated the box the unit could easily be cleaned at the hospital.

A book was placed on top of the story box containing an inspiring story penned by memberof the  tenth-grade English class and twelfth-grade SCALE class with illustrations by members of the Massapequa High School’s chapter of National Art Honor Society.

The story book also contains blank paper so children can create stories of their own. 

The finished product met with the approval of Sadie Friefeld, who was on hand to meet with the students.

"Thankfully, she is currently cancer-free," Schneider said.  "But her experience illustrates to me that everyone has a story to tell of their journey, especially these young brave patients and their families. We hope this project brings them some smiles and a bit of joy.”