East Students Sew a Path into the Spotlight

Students in the sewing classes at East High School are not only learning a trade, they’re giving and getting in fun and surprising ways under the leadership of an educator who is soon to retire.

The whirring of machines, punctuated with occasional laughter and direction from Mrs. Deann Herbert, is the music of the northwest corner of East High School’s first floor.

Inside the classroom, the desks have as many sewing machines as they can fit, and the rest of the surfaces in the room are covered in fabric, thread and other tools of the sewing trade. It sounds chaotic, but high school student Julisa Heredia says the opposite is true.

“I like sewing because it brings me peace,” the busy senior said. “When you’re focused on sewing, it doesn’t matter what else is going on in your life.”

More than 160 students are enrolled in one of six levels of sewing offered at East High School. Two of the classes are all new immigrants, Herbert said. She’s lost track of the number of languages she’s heard spoken in her classroom. But, in one of those classes, half of the students are boys.

“They can’t speak English very well, but I can show them what to do and the lessons are picked up quickly,” Herbert said, agreeing that the art of sewing seems to be a universal language.

Many of her students have moved beyond mere lessons by taking on community service projects, including pillows for children at St. Joseph’s shelter and quilts for Hope Ministries. This spring, they’re creating soft carry bags for the elderly.

They’ve also upped their fashion game, participating for the first time this year in the ChildServe Bubble Ball. Right now, they’re getting ready for the East Fashion Show on May 2, at 7:00 p.m. This year, they also held a pop-up shop, selling their creations including pink hats, scarves and coffee mug warmers. The fundraiser brought in $800 for the program.

But not all of the students’ work revolves around school and the community. The more ambitious students have raised funds to participate in Project Sewing Machine, earning themselves a new, reduced price sewing machine to take home.

With her machine, Junior Anfa Ahmed makes her own hijabs and skirts. She wears them to school and to her mosque.

“Pretty much everything I create and make I also wear, so I can show people what I do,” she said. “I love sewing. It makes me happy.”

Ahmed plans to pursue fashion and business at Iowa State University, making a career out of creating and selling ‘something beautiful.’ Don’t even try to tell her sewing isn’t cool.

“Everything you wear is made of someone’s sewing,” she added. “You’d be naked right now without people who sew. So, you should thank them.”

Not everyone in Herbert’s class is a future fashion designer, she also has future accountants, music teachers and business owners, among others in her classes.  She treats the fashion career focused and the hobbyists the same, passing on her love of sewing.

Herbert will have a lot more time to pursue her own personal projects beginning next year.  She’s retiring this spring.  The future of the sewing classes hasn’t been decided. Several of her students said they hope Herbert’s classes can go on.

As for Herbert, she’s happy to have shared her expertise with so many East High students.

“These classes create leaders who give back to their community,” she said.  And that’s a fine legacy.