Published: July 14, 2008 09:50 am         

Students learn lessons as they craft quilt

TRAVERSE CITY -- Nicole McCurry initially doubted her quilting ability, but with some help and encouragement she completed the project.

And she had fun in the process.

"I thought it was going to be boring, but it's shown me I could do things I didn't actually think I could do," McCurry said.

McCurry, 15, is a student of New Vision Academy, a program started five years ago for teenagers on probation in Grand Traverse County. She and 10 fellow students crafted a cherry-themed quilt during a two-day session at the end of June, and they also spent a week learning about digital movie-making.

Barb Donaldson, a probation officer in the program run through the county's probate and family court, said New Vision's goal is to give students who are willing to make changes in their lives an opportunity to benefit from meaningful activities.

"Some kids don't have vacations or employment in the summer, so we try to structure their time in a meaningful way," Donaldson said.

Linda Fawcett works for the court's volunteer services division and said the summer program is full of coordinated events designed to teach life skills and encourage experiential learning.

Students this month are scheduled to learn about employability skills and developing healthy relationships, as well as taking lessons in tae kwon do.

Volunteers and community members who donate time to the program are instrumental to its success, Fawcett said. For the quilt-making activity, for example, Fawcett relies on area sewing businesses to donate equipment and service that keeps the machines running.

Barb Wilkins, who led the quilt-making session, orchestrated the donation of a new, computerized Viking quilting machine.

Seven of the program's students are boys, so Wilkins wasn't sure how they'd react to sewing.

"The boys really didn't want to sew," she said, but once they started, especially working with the computerized machine, they enjoyed it.

Wilkins anticipated the group making a 40-by-50-inch quilt in the time allotted, but students did so well they were instead able to make a 50-by-60-inch quilt. They also completed 15 French-seamed pillow cases that will be among 100 pillow cases they want to donate to Tender Care this Christmas.

"They didn't want to take their break. They sewed right through their break," she said. "I'm just so proud of all of them."

Ray Buchanan, 15, used to sew with his grandmother and previously made pocket pouches and a stuffed rabbit for his great-grandmother, but he had never taken on a quilt.

"My parents were proud of me," Buchanan said. "It was fun."

The quilting class was among the most popular so far and helped students find skills they didn't know they possessed, Donaldson said.

"They have to be able to see the good within themselves so they can bring that goodness back into the community," she said.