School goes undercover to surprise vice principal
Quilts made for troops in Iraq, including official's son
BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer
Acollaborative project at Samsel Upper Elementary School in Sayreville was designed to warm both the bodies and the hearts of American soldiers in Iraq.

CHRIS KELLY staff Samsel Upper Elementary School students including Sandra Michael (from right), Sandra Lapinska and Briana Mantone, all 9, hold up quilts to be given to Marines fighting in Iraq, including the son of Vice Principal Bonnie Brady.

Teachers, students and administrators worked together to create nine patriotic quilts to be sent to members of the military for the holiday season.

"It was unbelievable," said Vice Principal Bonnie Brady, for whom the project was planned, since her son is deployed in Iraq. "I wish I had a better word than that. It was amazing."

Since September, covert quilting went on without Brady's knowledge, in order to surprise her with the finished products. Erin Brown, a teacher at the school, spearheaded the project, along with four other teachers — her sister, Melissa Brown, Kelly Lynn Shortis, Dena Mazur and Janet Ust.

The women sent out a schoolwide call to anyone who wished to participate in creating a square to be incorporated into the quilts, and it was answered by many. Creativity abounded in squares adorned with everything from American eagles and flags to words of thanks and encouragement for the troops. Preschoolers even got in on the labor of love, creating a flag made from their thumbprints.

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Left: Samsel Upper Elementary School Vice Principal Bonnie Brady thanks the students and teachers for their work on the quilts after being surprised at an assembly Friday. Above: Brady looks over one of the handmade quilts.

"It's really beautiful," Brady said. "Every quilt is nicer than the next one."

According to Brady, everyone at the school outdid themselves not only with the quilts, but with keeping the project a secret from her. While giving a tour of the school in October, she was about to enter Erin Brown's classroom while students were working on the squares, but Brown told her they were working on a surprise. Brady said she had no idea that it would be something of such great magnitude.

about doing everything possible to support veterans and troops. "We are very lucky to live in this country and have the freedoms that we have," Brady said. "I just want our children to grow up knowing the sacrifices that were made." Brady's son Matthew, 28, is in the Marine Corps, and was originally scheduled to be deployed to Iraq Sept. 11. However, the date was moved up to Sept. 7, which Brady saw as a good omen. He is scheduled to come home in June, she said. "I kind of think of it as a school year," Brady said. Since Matthew left in September, Brady has only been able to speak with him three times. She has not heard from him in five weeks, she said. "It's a little nerve-wracking," Brady said. "I wonder what he's doing." Lynette Armstrong, a paraprofessional, also has a son in Iraq who will be receiving one of the quilts, Brady said. The remaining seven blankets will go to soldiers who have some connection to the town. The quilts should only take two weeks to get to the soldiers, which will allow them to receive the packages in time for Christmas, Brady said.

School staff even went so far as to sneak into Brady's office and delete e-mails that were sent schoolwide.

"I had no idea whatsoever," Brady said. "Never in a million years did I think this wonderful project would've taken place. Not one student spilled the beans, not one teacher — no one."

Brady was frazzled on Friday when Principal Edward Aguiles asked her at the last minute to prepare for an assembly during which they would try to send students home with a message regarding the importance of voting, since a referendum for work on the high school was scheduled for Tuesday.

Scrambling to throw together some sort of presentation, Brady enlisted the help of a faculty member to assist her in bringing an 8-foot-long poster on voting into the gym. As she struggled through the door with the poster, she had no idea of what was to come.

"I walked into the gym and all of a sudden, there was dead silence," Brady said. "From then on, from about 2:15 to quarter to three, I just cried."

Brady sat in a chair in the middle of the gym as patriotic music played, speeches were made, and the quilts were presented one by one.

"I'm thinking, 'Oh my gosh, look at all the work it took to make that quilt — that one quilt,' " Brady said.

As the other eight quilts were rolled out, her tears of joy continued. Erin Brown spent countless hours sewing all of the carefully crafted squares together, with the exception of one quilt, which was pieced together by the grandmother of teacher Colleen Yuhas. After being assembled, the quilts were backed with a soft fleece, for warmth and comfort.

"These ladies worked so hard," Brady said, adding, "The day was just a roller coaster of emotion. It was one of the best days in my life."

The school district conducts drives for the soldiers annually, but this year was the first time anything of this caliber has been done, Brady said. She said both the schools and the town have always been very good