the language of fashion

Seventh graders have been hard at work designing their own custom Israeli clothing. Morah Yifat Golan invited fashion designer and entrepreneur Mila Pershyna to “zoom in” to seventh grade and offer insight on creating fashionable, elegant and comfortable pieces. Careful craftsmanship and the creation of quality pieces was a goal of the project, but the heart of the lesson was the practice of presenting, writing, and speaking in Hebrew, and for students to discover their own way to connect with Hebrew vocabulary.

“This project was designed for students to put the Hebrew language to maximum use. All of the knowledge that was brought into this project, the repetition of words and vocabulary, this will be a part of who they are,” said Morah Golan.

On Tuesday, Ms. Pershyna and two additional judges joined the seventh graders for the big reveal of their Israeli clothing lines. Ethan Tigay took first place with his custom bamba face mask. When asked why he chose the design, he said, “bamba is an Israeli food, and one of my favorites. We have to wear masks so much, I thought it would be fun to design it with something I like.” Second place went to Ben Berman for his dual purpose frisbee hat - a hat you can both play with and wear - and third place went to Liat Lerner for her beach cover up.

who is that amazing child behind the mask?

While our students understand that masks are essential for their safety and for the safety of others, it might not always be the most comfortable experience. Teacher Charles Bugelli used this as an opportunity to put a positive and fun spin on mask-wearing. The first and second graders created a foldable self-portrait showing their faces hidden by a mask, and then when unfolded, their mask moves down to reveal their mouth and words that describe them. The students learned about facial proportion and expression through observation and drawing techniques they could see in mirrors. Concentrating on one feature at a time, Mr. Bugelli was intrigued by the attention the students attributed to the eyes. “Wearing a mask can disguise that your mouth is smiling, but the eyes can smile even without a mouth. This really came through in the students’ work.” The next fold reveals a smile and a description of each child’s personality using adjectives such as funny, kind and silly. The design and decorating of the mask and background completed the effect beautifully. Utilizing many elements of art such as space, line and color, the first and second graders also revealed the dynamic and unique people they are behind the masks.