Style Show Program, cookie cutter, and State Home Ec Certificate, 1950's
Donors: Nancy Vail McEntire, Class of 1958, and Ahren Wagner, FCS teacher (2024)
Author: Mia Shrout & Sophia Taylor, Class of 2027, and Katrina Carrier, Class of 2025
Story Contributors: Nancy Vail McEntire and Ahren Wagner
Web Page Designer: Brayden Moeves, Class of 2024
Highlands High School Home Economics: From 1958
It's the year 1958, and the hum of sewing machines and the heat radiating from the oven filled the air, bringing with it the familiarity of the Home Ec room. Nancy McEntire looked up from her work, taking a break. It had been a long class, filled with the steady work of the girls around her. As they sewed their aprons, they were quiet and focused. By the end of the day, they were expected to model their aprons. The girls were excited for the opportunity to show off their hard work in front of their peers and raise money for their school. Featured, are artifacts from Home Ec class: a Kentucky-shaped cookie cutter, two style-show programs, and two Homemaker Degrees, all of which share a glimpse of some of the great things that went on in the Home Economics classroom during the mid-twentieth century.
Family and Consumer Science: 2023/24
Our Family and Consumer Science (FCS) classes here at Highlands High School (HHS) have changed since then. The class started out mandatory, (and for girls only) in the 50s. The students learned how to cook, clean, and sew, the class was about preparing to become homemakers. Some people who have made the biggest impact on FCS are Ann Davis Meyer and Ahren Wagner, helping to evolve the class by making it more modern and business-focused.
“...There was one fashion class, one food class, one parenting and child development class and now we have multiple levels of those courses and we have what we call career pathways now,” Wagner said.
Something that made Home Ec so different from FCS as it is today is the gender separation. While girls went to a mandatory Home Ec class, the boys went to Shop Class. These classes were as important to the students as one of our core classes today.
McEntire (class of 1958) said: “I think it was a core class, I mean, we all took it whether we wanted to or not and that was it…. Just the girls.”
As the girls progressed through the year, they were expected to do a ‘style show’. They would spend a week or two sewing aprons before modeling them in front of the class. Although all girls participated in their school-style show, only one was chosen to serve on a sewing board at Shillito’s. (Shillito’s was a department store in downtown Cincinnati)
McEntire said: “One girl each year, I think it was one, served on a board, a sewing board, at Shillito’s.”
The Early childhood teaching interns develop lessons-to-go, for teaching in the community.
Before 1987, Highlands Home Ec class was a much less project based system, but Meyer changed that when she added the preschool program into Highlands. The preschool program is a project where preschoolers are taken to HHS and Highlands students teach them as if it were an actual preschool.
“I replaced Mrs. Ann Meyer when she retired… At that time, all FCS teachers were teaching just one stand-alone class… And she started the preschool program in the 80s, and we’ve continued that.” Wagner said. Mrs. Wagner's classes also have field placements in the community, gaining practical experience in preschools and day cares in town.
Our Highlands Family Consumer Science students compete in regional and state competitions via a national organization called FCCLA. Before FCCLA (Family Career and Community Leaders of America) there was FHA, or Future Homemakers of America. FHA was very similar to FCCLA, it was started 75 years ago and was known for making a difference in families, careers and communities across America. FCCLA is just a more modern version of what we used to call FHA, as it focuses on careers and not just homemaking.
Wagner said: “FHA changed in 99. It was like FCCLA. It has always been an organization that's student driven and focused on community service and competing. It's just advanced a little and reworked to make the content a bit more modern.”
Students and teachers who compete in FCCLA events, wear these lanyards at the convention centers where there is professional-level competition.
This class has evolved in so many ways over the years at HHS. We’ve changed the course name, the club’s name, the focus of the class, added a preschool, and so many different projects. This program took the focus off being strictly on homemaking and expanded the focus to fashion, early childhood, and cooking careers.
In our culinary classes, students learn how to cook nutritious, well-balanced meals, as well as safe cooking practices. Students have had the opportunities to cater meals as a business, and have had great success! They've also had a chance to meet with owners of some trendy food trucks in the area. This was part of a project where students designed their own food truck businesses, complete with menus, art design, and all the components to create their own business.
Our current sewing students learn how to sew, but we take it even further. They run their own sewing business creating sportswear, blankets, quilts, and various items for local customers. We even have other schools in Northern Kentucky commission our students to create items for them (such as team-embroidered blankets, towels, and jackets, etc.)
These students also try their hand at fashion design and interior design through projects they encounter throughout the years. The featured Barbie Doll is dressed in clothes made for a “Working Woman-1988” fashion design project. Next to Barbie, you can see the Mood Board Ideas, Sketches, and material swatches used when designing her outfit.
Our 2024 early childhood education students learn how to design lessons, and learning activities, then put them into action with preschool children and daycare kids here in town. These real-life applications provide our students with a true sense of what it’s like to have a career in early childhood education.
These activity-based learning classrooms provide Highlands students with opportunities to learn practical skills that will help them as adults in their own homes as well as in potential careers.
"Working Woman" Barbie Fashion
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