DIY project more than a work of art for group of 7th-graders
A group of seventh-graders at Weisenborn Junior High recently combined authentic learning and creativity to complete a fashionable project.
Jen Booher, social studies teacher, started the project with students in November after the group expressed a desire to make custom vinyl T-shirts for their class. Initially, students researched how they would get and pay for the shirts.
“They brainstormed ideas from bringing in shirts individually to trying a fundraiser, but eventually settled on trying to find a donor who would sponsor the shirts,” said Booher. The class set a budget of $100 and secured a donor. Next, they collected stocked vinyl from Booher and a Cricut from an old makerspace in the building. They also got other supplies on loan from willing staff, including tools and heat presses. Students then worked in teams to draft designs. Final designs for both the front and the back were uploaded to Google Classroom so students could vote on them.
Using the Cricut machine, the class cut all the vinyl and then began “weeding” it.
“We had to learn about ‘reflection’ and mirroring the designs so that when they were transferred onto the shirts, the words would be facing the right direction,” said Booher. Once all the vinyl was ready, students heat-transferred their multi-layer designs onto the t-shirts. After nearly six months, the students proudly wore their projects.
“It was quite the labor of love,” Booher said, “but I think they all learned quite a bit about many things. Most importantly, teamwork, collaboration and communication.”