Young quilters from Assiginack Public School featured in national magazine

Young quilters from Assiginack Public School in Manitowaning are featured in a national publication. Students in the Grade 5/6 class wrote an article for the Spring/Summer issue of The Canadian Quilter magazine, sharing a unique learning experience that began last fall.

During the school year, students learned about designing, drawing, measuring and sewing quilts based on a favourite novel or film as part of the Youth Quilt Challenge. They documented their efforts and are now published authors.

While working on the project, students were not allowed to receive help from adults. Their quilts had to have three layers – the top, the batting and the bottom – and a special green dragonfly fabric in keeping with Youth Quilt Challenge regulations. They had to submit a photo showing all four sides of their quilt in order to demonstrate that they had closed off all of the edges. The quilts could be any size.

Jackie White, a local quilter and frequent volunteer at Assiginack Public School, mentored the 18 students who participated in this project.  She shared some ideas on how to get started, and showed the students some of her designs.

“I thought this would be an exciting learning opportunity for my students with a real-world application of skills,” said Heather Pennie, the Grade 5/6 teacher at Assiginack Public School who was the elementary recipient of the Rainbow District School Board’s 2014 William N. Roman Teacher of the Year Award. “The project allowed students to put literacy and numeracy skills to work on a valuable project that was a lot of fun.”

Margaret Stringer, Principal of Assiginack Public School, commended students on their efforts. “Not only did it call on their creativity, it also gave them an opportunity to learn about submission requirements and firm deadlines.” She added: “While the students did not win the challenge, becoming published authors in a highly respected national magazine was a reward in itself. I am so proud of our students as well as our community partners and teacher Heather Pennie for giving our students this tremendous learning opportunity.”

Assiginack Public School thanks the Northcott fabric company and the Island Quilters’ Guild for supporting this project. Both organizations donated fabric to enable the students to participate.

The students look forward to putting their newly acquired quilting skills to work again, as they intend to enter the contest next year.

For more information about the Youth Quilt Challenge, and to see pictures of the student submissions, visit: http://www.canadianquilter.com/photo-gallery/youth-quilt-challenge.php

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Media Contact:

Margaret Stringer, Principal, Assiginack Public School

Rainbow District School Board, 705-368-7010

From left, Ella Stewart, Braiden Philips and Peyton Pitawanakwat point out their quilts in the Spring/Summer issue of The Canadian Quilter magazine.