In Wink of an Eye, a Class T-Shirt

Newswise — Members of the Fall ’13 BSN cohort at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing always stand out in a crowd, especially once they trade their scrubs for a class shirt that’s almost too cool for school. The design features a winking character--that might be related to a famous Baltimore icon--and the simple sentiment “Bmore Caring.”

The design is cute, it says it all, and it was--what else around these parts?--a team effort. ”It’s really cool to see people wearing them around,” says Amy LeBailly, one of the cohort ringleaders alongside Carlee Peck. The idea for a class shirt arose from a desire to have a little fun and create “a little swag” as a memento of the students’ time at JHUSON. In the wink of an eye, LeBailly and Peck organized the project. Out went questionnaires to classmates to gauge interest and tastes. Most wanted in. The thing was, some preferred tees, while others sought tank tops or hoodies. Easy: Do all three. OK, male or female image? (The cohorts at JHUSON have been attracting more and more men.) Easy: Do both. LeBailly is quick to credit the designer, Christine Giuffrida of O’Postrophy Designs in York, PA, for coming up with a perfect image, getting it turned into apparel, keeping it affordable enough for the average nursing student’s budget, and making it available online so the cohort leaders wouldn’t have to handle the actual sales. The tees and tanks go for $22, the hoodies for $42.

Her “Bmore Caring” shirt stays behind this week as LeBailly and seven others from her cohort (Caitlin Dreisbach, Emily DeVan, Emily Hull, Heather Holloway, Megan Armbruster, Nicolette Guerrero, and Tristin Hutchinson) head to Jeremie, Haiti, to help on a clean water and sanitation project with Friends for Health in Haiti. Not to worry--they’ll have a team T-shirt for this trip as well.

They’ll also be blogging.

And when they get back to Baltimore in early October, having proven they’re indeed “more caring,” they’ll be greeted by that famous wink that says, “Hey, good job ... and nice shirt.”

Learn more about:• The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing• Friends for Health in Haiti• The Department of Community-Public Health