Fashioning Future
Woodcraft Rangers’ after-school program teaches high school students about careers in fashion.
During the school day, room number 111 at South Gate High School in Los Angeles is a health classroom decorated with student-made posters of the food pyramid and reproductive-health topics. But after the final bell rings, the classroom looks more like an art workshop, as it is filled with sewing machines, stacks of blank T-shirts and screen frames by the nonprofit organization Woodcraft Rangers.
Stylist and fashion designer Florice Houde, California State University, Fullerton graphic-design student Kenneth Chiem, and Guerrilla Republik designer Nancy Jung lead the biweekly after-school program. On a typical day, a cluster of boys can be seen sketching pictures by hand that will be painted or burned onto screens. Three girls help each other measure, cut and sew squares of fabric that will become ruched skirts.
The fashion program at South Gate High School is one of more than 60 after-school programs throughout Los Angeles County’s elementary, middle and high schools organized by Woodcraft Rangers. Program themes range from traditional athletics and cultural arts to specific student interests such as break dancing and low-rider bike mechanics.
“Our results show that the kids that are in our programs have fewer school absences and higher academic performance the longer they stay with our program,” said Cathie Mostovoy, chief executive officer of Woodcraft Rangers. “Most of that is because kids are getting excited about learning again.”
Woodcraft Rangers added its first fashion program last year at Dr. George Washington Carver Middle School. It was spearheaded by public-relations specialist Diana Bianchini and titled “Streetwear & Kicks.” Streetwear designers Gavin McNeill of LAX Paperboys and Manuel Jackson of Ekqualyte Abstract Apparel guided brand-conscious students to make style boards and T-shirts and paint canvas sneakers.
Woodcraft Rangers stepped up the curriculum for the second program, held at South Gate High School. The three instructors guide students through independent projects that vary in skill level from making a simple bag to attempting corsets and complex skirt patterns. A field trip to the Avid Ink sublimation factory, hosted by owner Rob Davis, allowed students to see the production of a garment from start to finish.
Students with similar interests work in groups, such as a clique of girls sewing ruched skirts. While Mayra Bermudez stands upright, fellow student Cynthia Palos drapes a square of floral fabric in front of her waist to aid her visualization of the skirt’s proportions.
“They’re all helping each other out,” Houde said. “I feel like when you’re teaching people how to do stuff, I teach one girl, and then the next student teaches the next student, then she’s learning it even more. It’s cementing.”
The collective of mostly male students in Chiem’s screen-printing corner makes up the brand concept “Juice and Crackers,” named after the snacks served during the after-school program. Chiem oversees students as they hand-paint screens and refine graphic collages made on Adobe Photoshop that will be burned onto screens. Chiem is in talks with local stores to sell the shirts, which range from graffiti-style word graphics to simple stripes on the sleeves of a T-shirt.
Local companies and individuals have donated nearly all materials used in the classroom, including fabric from Ragfinders, shoes from Sportie LA and screen-printing equipment from Guerrilla Republik. For one student who sketched a design with draping jewelry chains, Houde mined her donation resources to get chains so the student could complete her design.
“They don’t have to be here. It’s totally by choice that they’re here. So we have to keep it interesting to keep them here,” said Houde, who adapts the curriculum according to what the students want to learn. The instructors plan for all of the garments made in class to be part of a final fashion show, scheduled for June 10 in collaboration with other Woodcraft Rangers clubs. —Rhea Cortado
