A quilt with messages from Fair Lawn High School students is headed to a wounded soldier.

A group of students created the quilt at the suggestion of Julianne Fuoco, a social studies teacher at Fair Lawn High School, for a soldier from her hometown.

"It is our own quiet way of doing something," said Fuoco.

Pfc. Derek McConnell, 22, a North Caldwell resident, joined the U.S. Army in 2009. He was deployed to Afghanistan in March of 2011. In July his mother learned that he was severely wounded after stepping on two separate improvised explosive devices (IEDs) resulting in the amputation of both legs as well as a skull fracture, fractured right arm and severe blast wounds. He is currently at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., with his mother and his fiancé by his side.

"He is a fighter," said Fuoco, who knew McConnell from their parish.

McConnell was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with the Valor Device, which is the United States military's fourth highest award for valor.

"I started thinking about things we could do for him," said Fuoco.

She wanted something for McConnell that would also encourage the student's creativity. Then she found the Texas T-Shirt Quilts company that can turn T-shirts into quilts.

To begin the project Fuoco shared McConnell's story with her students.

"They were pretty stunned," she said about their reaction.

Fuoco opened the project to students in her class and anyone else who wanted to join in. Some students donated the $5 for the T-shirt even though they did not want to decorate a shirt of their own. Students raised $225 which covered the cost of making the quilt and shipping.

Students met after school in Fuoco's classroom where she supplied paints for decorating the shirts or worked on their shirts at home.

"I really did not give them any directions," she said.

After students finished with their works of art, Fuoco sent them to Texas T-Shirt Quilts. The company turned the 25 T-shirts into a quilt large enough for a full bed.

"They were the ones who took care of arranging things," she said.

Fuoco said she was proud of the students for stepping up to take on the project and embracing it. It gives the students a chance to give something back beyond their own community, she added.

The finished quilt includes messages to McConnell such as "Once a Hero, Always a Hero," "Thank you Derek" and "You Are the Hope in the World." A picture of a soldier states "The Face of a Hero." A square with flowers on it reads "Thank You For Being Our Hero." Some of the other messages say "Thank You for Your Service," "Derek 1," "Pride Is What Gets Us By," "True Thanks For a True Hero" and "Hope."

"It came out better than I even expected," said Fuoco, who added that the students were "thrilled" with the results.

Fuoco planned to write a letter to McConnell to accompany the quilt when she shipped it late last week.

Email: putrino@northjersey.com