{"id":32821,"date":"2020-05-08T05:00:34","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T10:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=32821"},"modified":"2020-05-08T09:26:23","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T14:26:23","slug":"oklahoma-family-and-consumer-science-teachers-leverage-pandemic-to-teach-home-life-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2020\/05\/08\/oklahoma-family-and-consumer-science-teachers-leverage-pandemic-to-teach-home-life-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma Family and Consumer Science teachers leverage pandemic to teach home-life skills"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Courtesy Abby Pike<\/p>\n

Masks assembled by Edmond eighth grader Abby Pike with the help of her parents Terry and Joy Pike.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Eighth grader Abby Pike is putting her Christmas present to good use.<\/span><\/p>

She received a sewing machine for the holiday last year. And amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic she and her family have spent their days and evenings sewing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

So far, they\u2019ve sewed about 700 masks. They\u2019ve used social media to help distribute them to people who need them through donations and sold some as well.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cIt just brightens my day to see that I’m making an impact,\u201d Pike said.<\/span><\/p>

Pike is involved in\u00a0 Edmond\u2019s Cheyenne Middle School\u2019s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America student organization. And she said many of her friends know a little about sewing, however most students her age and even many adults don\u2019t know even how to sew a button on, her teacher Kendall Wildman said. Wildman teaches family and consumer sciences at Cheyenne.<\/span><\/p>

Family and Consumer Science teachers have seen a sudden spike in a need for the skills they teach during the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for teaching the subject, which has evolved from the days when it was home economics and designed to prep women for home life, has been magnified by stay at home orders, Wildman said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The demand for mask-making, she said, will even make her flip her curriculum moving forward.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cSewing is the first thing I\u2019ll be teaching when we come back in the fall,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Courtesy Marsha Swift<\/p>\n

Marsha Swift with her Basic Clothing Construction construction class at UCO.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Marsha Swift is an adjunct professor who teaches clothing construction classes at the University of Central Oklahoma.<\/span><\/p>

She has been teaching family and consumer sciences for more than four decades, mostly in Edmond Public Schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In her basic clothing construction class, she\u2019s taught foundational\u00a0 sewing technique sto her students. That\u2019s on top of teaching them about quality clothing construction.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cRepairing and maintaining your own clothing is so important,\u201d Swift said. \u201cIn my lifetime, there are just so many things I\u2019ve done with sewing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

One of her students, sophomore Cameron Durham, also made a video for public distribution to show everyday people how to make a mask.<\/p>