“Character Capes” at Perth Road PS

Mar 31, 2016

Designing, sewing and donning “character capes” is a unique art project that is giving one class of grade six students at Perth Road Public School not only a chance to learn how to sew, but also an opportunity to better understand their own and their fellow students personal potentials.

On March 29 the students in Miss Grahams classroom split up into groups to resume the work they began a few weeks ago on their “character capes”. The project is one of the Issues Based Arts Projects made possible through a grant created through a partnership between the Limestone District School Board and the Ontario Arts Council. The idea of a group sewing project based on the theme of character capes was developed by PRPS teacher Kelly Graham and long time textile artist Elinor Rush.

For a number of weeks the students have been designing and sewing character capes as a way to develop their own personal characters while learning to respect the personalities and traits of their fellow students as they work together in teams. The character themes are based in native folklore, specifically the teachings of the seven grandfathers. The names of the capes include: honesty, love, wisdom, growth, self control, courage and respect. Each group has designed the lettering and imagery to fit their trait and the idea is that when a student in the class demonstrates a trait they will be acknowledged by donning that particular cape.

Prior to splitting up into their sewing groups, the students discussed the basic personality traits. Then, based on a test that each took, they were placed into groups where different personalities in the class could have a chance to work together as a team. The project has encouraged students not only to learn the hard skills of how to design and sew a wearable cape but also to better understand their own personal strengths and weaknesses while also learning to respect those of their fellow students. Miss Graham explained how the idea for the capes came about.

“The goal here was for the students to explore personal strengths and group dynamics and to create an object that could recognize their special achievements”, Graham said. “Earlier in the year I recognized a common dynamic in many classrooms where certain students tend to get a lot more air time than others and it concerned me. Through this project, the students have learned to listen to each other and to see that every student in the class has a special and important role to play. The result has been a more diverse, inclusive and respectful classroom community.'”

Textile artist Elinor Rush's role has been to help the students to learn the skills of designing and sewing fabric and she began by providing each group with a sewing kit and showing them the basics of sewing. Students also learned basic pattern drafting skills. The result has been seven colourful capes with images that include an owl (wisdom), a heart and a dove (love), a bluejay (honesty), a leafy tree (growth), a white and brown bear (courage), a wolf (respect) and a dog balancing a bone on its nose (self control).

“What has developed here is much more of a team community, one that is more inclusive and respectful compared to how it was before the project began', Graham said.

A number of students spoke to me about what they have learned both about themselves and their fellow classmates through the character capes project. Jaxon Stonness who worked on the self control cap,e said, “the whole point of the project was to learn how to work together as a team”. Nick Johnston who worked on the cape of wisdom said that he learned “how to value everyone in the group.” Miss Graham hopes that the students will take these special “character cape” traits out with them into the bigger world, along with a new and a better understanding of how every person, no matter their personality type, has something of value to offer.