This year, Makenna Rinehart took on a project that stitched together passion, community and creativity—literally.
Makenna is a member of the Anthony Wayne High School-Penta chapter of FCCLA. At the beginning of the school year, she chose to compete in the FCCLA STAR Event “Teach or Train,” a competition where students design and deliver a series of three lessons to other students. Makenna chose to share with her peers a valuable skill that she learned when she was young: hand sewing.
“Growing up, my Nana and Mom taught me how to sew, and it’s always been a special skill to me,” Makenna shared. “I used to sew patches onto my Girl Scout sash while my mom did my brother’s Boy Scout uniform. It just became something I loved.”
As her interest and skill level developed over the years, Makenna made a repurposed tote bag in middle school and later completed service projects like making Santa hats for children at Toledo Children’s Hospital. In high school, she even started a side gig hemming pants and prom dresses for friends.
“Now I’m getting ready to hem my own senior prom dress,” she said. “It feels like a full-circle moment.”
But this year’s STAR Event project took things to a whole new level. Inspired by a suggestion from FCCLA advisor Mrs. Amanda Valdez, Makenna partnered with Monclova Primary to bring the monster idea to life. She would teach basic sewing skills to high school students by making plush monster toys based on drawings from second grade students.
“I thought it would be a great way to connect different schools in our district,” Makenna explained. “It’s both a valuable memory for both groups of students, and it really emphasizes the FCCLA focus on community and service learning.”
The project involved collaboration with several teachers: Mrs. Valdez helped implement the sewing lessons, Mrs. Jamie Pfefferle coordinated with the 2nd grade classrooms, and special education aide, Mrs. Joanna Brentlinger even pitched in by sewing monsters to help meet the demand.
“There were more second graders than high schoolers, so I ended up making about 12 monsters myself—with help from my mom and Mrs. Brentlinger,” Makenna said.
Balancing the logistics proved to be one of the biggest challenges.
“The hardest part was finding time in everyone’s schedules and keeping everything organized—especially between semesters,” she said. “Some students misplaced their drawings or needed more time to finish their monsters, but we made it work.”
In the end, the time and effort was turned into smiles and excitement.
“When we delivered the monsters, the second graders were thrilled,” Makenna said. “They asked things like, ‘When is my monster’s birthday?’ or ‘Who sewed my monster?’ It was so fun to talk with them and see their excitement.”
Makenna earned a gold award at the FCCLA regional level for the project and will present it again at the State Leadership Conference, April 24 and 25.
While the project began as a competition entry, it grew into something much more meaningful. “It started as a way to complete my STAR event, but it turned into a true service project,” Makenna said. “It was about connection, creativity and giving back.”