[Mo-facs] ACTE Newsletter article

[Cynthia Waltman]

Someone forwarded this note to me about an article in ACTE Newsletter-  I thought it was interesting.
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This article is from the ACTE January 31 Newsletter. 

Design and sewing fashionable again in school districts
It seems high-schoolers are embracing sewing and design classes once again in Maryland, according to a Jan. 8 article in the Baltimore Sun. This popularity is fuelled by shows like “Project Runway” and “America’s Next Top Model” in much the same vein that culinary classes became en vogue because of TV shows like “Iron Chef”. Sewing and home economics classes were on the decline in many school districts as students with cramped schedules worked to study for standardized tests.
But some schools are bringing back these classes while others are starting clubs to accommodate students’ growing interest. The article notes that in Maryland, clothing and textile programs are taught only in Carroll and Montgomery counties; enrollment has increased from 232 students in 2004 to 399 this year. And enrollment in the state’s only high school fashion merchandising program, located in Baltimore County, has remained steady at about 290 students. Marjorie Lohnes, supervisor of Carroll County’s career-tech education programming, said the county’s decision not to drop the programming when everyone else was doing so is paying off.
 
“Now all of these students want to go to Parsons, FIT [Fashion Institute of Technology] and some of the colleges that train in fashion design,” she said.
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