Isabelle teaches another kind of recycling

She sat patiently, waiting for her class to begin. A tiny blue bow adorned with a flower accented her beautiful snowy white hair.

At the age of 95, Holmstad resident, Isabelle Sandquist has learned that patience is virtue. She had to be patient during her lifetime, being in charge of seven children, 15 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

The wife of a Covenant minister, Sandquist spent many years of her life sewing and doing small craft projects. Even the brightly colored jacket she wears is made from recycled materials. In her senior years she took up the hobby of recycling old greeting cards.

"So many cards are so beautiful," she said. "It seems like a shame to throw them away."

Sandquist cuts out objects on the cards and uses them to make new cards for friends and relatives.

Rotolo Middle School teacher Morgan Connell was looking for different ways to teach her students about recycling. When she came upon a box of cards her grandmother had saved, she thought about trying to find a way to use the cards rather than throw them out.

She told her mother, Jeanie Van Leirsburg about the card project, and Van Leirsburg knew just who to contact.

"I worked at the Holmstad for 23 years and I knew Isabelle," said Van Leirsburg. "I knew she made beautiful cards and I knew she would enjoy going to the school to work with the kids."

Fifteen students from Connell's class gave up their lunch period for the opportunity to work with Isabelle Sandquist.

The spry nonagenarian quietly began telling the kids about her cards and what was involved in making them. "Can you hear me?" she asked. "I live in a place where not everyone hears well."

Sandquist showed some of the items she had previously cut out and began to explain the process.

"If you want to put one of these animals on the card, you probably need to add some grass," she said. "These butterflies always make a card beautiful."

Sandquist also talked about writing messages.

"I write my own but if you can't think of what to say, it is perfectly all right to use a message from a card," she added.

Sandquist showed a card that she had made for her friend Mildred Edfeldt's birthday. Mildred was turning 96 and the card was beautifully done with a message that read, "Thinking of you today, with a smile." "Adding 'with a smile' seems like a happy thing to say," she said.

Amanda Gao listened intently as Sandquist spoke. She was eager to try her hand at this new craft. "I enjoy doing this type of thing," she said. "I like sewing and knitting. I think it is really nice of her to come here and do this for us."

Sean Kozak was putting together a Christmas card for his mom.

"She is the main motivator in my life," he said. "She doesn't let me give up."

Megan Imundo sat right by Sandquist's side, watching carefully and heeding her advice. She planned to make a card for her grandmother and include a poem she had written.

"Don't you want to eat your lunch?" said Sandquist to the young girl. "You need to eat a little bit of something every now and then."

Once a mom, always a mom.

The kids worked on their cards while Sandquist worked on hers. Occasionally they would ask a question and she would have the answer. At 95, she is a woman who has years of experience behind her. With a willingness to share, she helps each student, reassuring them with a kind word, and with a smile.