In July Winooski Middle School student, Ivy Resmer reached out to WMHS Co-Principal Kate with a question. She said that she had been making cloth face masks since the beginning of the pandemic, and had currently made over two-hundred. She wanted to know if Winooski schools had enough face masks to start the school year, because if not, Ivy wanted to chip in with her homemade creations.
The district had already ordered a large supply of cloth face masks but Co-Principal Kate said that it would be wonderful to h
ave student-made masks that were designed for and made by students.
Ivy agreed and figured that in the months leading up to school she could make a lot of masks for students and teachers.
Ivy’s generosity sparked another great idea. What if the school offered a student-led workshop to teach students and community members how to make masks? Ivy found the experience empowering, trying to focus on a helpful task during tumultuous times, and she felt other students might feel the same way. At the time of this publication, a series of mask-making workshops is planned for the last week in August. Many thanks to Ivy and her mom, Cathy, for helping to keep our learning community safe during these uncertain times.
We asked Ivy a few questions about her mask-making project:
Where did you learn how to sew?
I learned how to sew a few years ago, but I didn’t find it too interesting, and back then my mom had a very old, clunky, hard-to-use sewing machine, so I just couldn’t get into it. I sewed a coaster or two before I lost interest.
Where did you get the idea to start creating masks?
I got the idea to start sewing masks from my mom, who, from the get go, was sewing masks for her coworkers at UVMMC using a youtube video for help.She taught me a few weeks later, and it stuck. A big game changer was the new sewing machine.
Did it help you pass the time while you were quarantined?
Yes. I spent hours and hours sewing masks. It gave me something useful to do that I knew was desperately needed.
How many masks have you made so far?
So far I have made 260 masks.