Edgeworth Elementary holds parade to celebrate grant-funded 'Hack a Bag' project

Edgeworth Elementary kindergarten and first-grade students were able to parade in style June 3, showing off their newly “hacked” canvas bags.

Seven classes participated in the parade, walking in a circle around the school’s lobby area as teachers waved and cheered while music played in the background.

Kindergartener Mary Holland said she was nervous at first but that wore off as she walked out.

“It was a little bit scary, but it was fun being able to walk around in a circle,” Holland said.

The 121 newly crafted bags were a part of a grant-funded project called “Hack the Bag.” The project strived to find a way for students to be able to safely carry multiple items as they maneuvered around the school, said Gabriella Miller, school librarian.

“We saw that students were having difficulty carrying lots of things like art boxes, water bottles or headphones early in the school year and looked to see how we could solve that,” Miller said.

The school applied for a grant from the Allegheny Intermediate Unit’s “OnRamp” grant. The grant encourages projects that “are engaging, empowering and equitable, addressing new challenges in creative ways,” according to the organization’s website. The school received $2,500 for supplies and materials.

Students worked on the bags for four months, attending classes that walked students through the process of solving the problem, said Edgeworth principal Carol Sprinker.

Miller said students were able to be hands-on by sewing, coloring their bags and creating keychains. Throughout the process, students attended classes to go through trial and error with the creative part.

“We wanted to teach them if it doesn’t work the first time, that they can go back and try something else to see if it works,” she said.

Teachers gave students planning and problem-solving sheets to use as they tested out different materials, such as magnets, velcro or zippers for closure for the bags and looked at what fabrics would be best to carry items.

“This was something that got everyone to think outside of the box,” Miller said.

Kindergartener Henry Johnson said designing was the most challenging part.

“It was kinda tricky to draw pictures,” he said. “I didn’t want to mess it up.”

Kindergarten teacher Andrea Croft said it nice to see the students being able to show off their bags while having fun.

“One thing that made me happy as they paraded around was I felt proud and they were proud too,” Croft said.

As a way to thank the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and raise awareness about the OnRamp grant’s impact, the school invited staff to tweet a story about the grant along with photos and videos using the hashtag #JoyfulandCreative to fit the grant’s mission.

Sprinker said students will be able to keep their bags throughout the school year and can upgrade them each grade level if they want to add more to them.