As Darla Shanae demonstrates how to measure an arm hole on one of her Milwaukee Academy of Science students, another raises her hand and chimes in.

 “Ms. Darla, what’s this spot?” she asks pointing to the lower half of a silhouette body on a measurement sheet.

“Ummmm…are you talking about the groin?” Shanae asks, while trying to hold in a laugh.

“Nooooo!” exclaims the student, as the entire class begins to giggle.

“Oh, you’re pointing at the waist,” Shanae said. “That’s a frequent measurement.”

For Shanae, it’s these unforgettable teaching experiences that allow her to widen the children’s creativity in crafts that have gone nearly extinct.

FashioNation is an engagement program that targets youth who inspire to seek creative outlets as a hobby or entrepreneurship. The program is in its third year, and has grown exponentially from its humble beginnings.

It started with several Story Elementary students designing denim scraps and putting on a fashion show, but then eventually culminated into a full-fledged design program.

“I came up with the program because I always envisioned a store where people could go in and just create. So, I started bringing my ideas to the youth because they’re the most receptive,” Shanae said. “They have the biggest imaginations. They’ll take an idea and magnify it a million times. So, when I started to teach girls my skills, they really enjoyed it.”

FashioNation has worked with 20 organizations, and has recently finished up a program with UWM.

“I try to create an exciting and engaging atmosphere because a lot classes that people take now, even if it’s for a benefit, can be boring,” she said. “I try to make my classes hands-on and constantly moving [by] keeping out the riff-raff, which isn’t always easy to do. I try to gear their minds back towards what we’re working on,” she said.

The program offers crafts ranging from denim and sewing, to tie-die art and jewelry. For the finale, student’s put on a fashion show to display their designs.

“I like to see a milestone, and present what they create. I enjoy make-and-take projects, but I really enjoy building up to something because it gives it that educational piece for me,” Shanae said.

She continued: “We took nothing and turned it into something and then they get to show it off and brag about it for years to come.”

Shanae said at-home crafting has become somewhat of a lost art as technology has stepped into the picture. She added that when funding for Home Economic classes were stripped from school budgets, it at-home crafts further declined.

“These are the skills kids need on a daily basis. If you aren’t learning it at home or in school, where are you going to learn it?” Shanae asked.

Along with FashioNation’s crafting programs, her dream is to create a Home Economic curriculum to teach student’s the basic at-home skills. Whether it’s doing a load of laundry, cooking breakfast or sewing a button back onto a jacket, she wants to prepare the youth.

Though she is looking for a brick and mortar concept for her mobile program, she will continue to bring FashioNation across Milwaukee and Wisconsin.  

“It’s challenging but fun, she said. “It’s been way more rewarding than I thought.”

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