High school student aims to ease anxiety for kids who have to be in court

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. - In South Jersey, a local high school student’s service project aims to ease anxiety for children who have to be inside a courtroom.

Andrew Passalacqua, a student at Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken, launched Crayons for Courts raising enough money to purchase thousands of coloring supplies for children.

"My goal is to bring a smile to their faces even if it’s making their day better with 20 minutes. It’s still making their day better," said Passalacqua.

The 17-year-old said a few years ago he was inside a family courtroom because his mother is a judge and felt determined to make a difference after witnessing a child as young as five to seven-years-old exposed to the stress of a courtroom.

"I felt horrible for the kid, and those types of memories don’t go away even if your five-years-old or six-years-old or ten-years-old, they stick with you," said Passalacqua. "You hear your parents arguing, and that makes you upset, especially a little kid, and it was just horrible for me to see."

Passalacqua said he raised nearly $3,000, purchasing over 6,000 packets of crayons, 3,000 coloring books, 2,000 activity books and some stickers.

On Tuesday afternoon, Passalacqua delivered the first Crayons for Courts donation to the Camden County Courthouse and said he plans on turning the service project into a nonprofit to benefit the entire State of New Jersey.

"If you have an idea, go do it because the worst that can happen is someone says no and you can think of something else," said Passalacqua.