Search Results for: Natalia

When the new school year first began Sue introduced me to Natalia who was sitting at a table by herself drawing with black marker in her sketchbook.  Sue said she was one of the most talented artists in her class.  I tried to start a conversation with her, but she didn’t seem interested.  I figured it was a teenage thing and left her to her drawing.

Then I started going to Sue’s classroom during lunchtime and teaching whoever was interested how to sew.  A couple of weeks into it, Natalia showed up.  She was incredibly shy and self-deprecating.  She seemed to have little confidence.  But she caught on right away, was slow and deliberate, and learned to sew a straight line quicker than anyone else.

Yesterday I was looking at all the drawings and paintings hanging in Sue’s classroom that the kids had done and one of them stood out from the rest.   It was done by Natalia who was chosen to enter a drawing in the Congressional Art Challenge of 2022.  When I asked her about it she brought me right to her picture, eager to show it to me. 

Then she pulled out her sketchbook, the same one she had been drawing in the first time I met her. This time she leafed through the pages finding her favorite drawing to show me.  

I asked her about her process and she said she started with a self-portrait then listened to music and drew what she felt. 

She was still quiet and shy but didn’t hold back when talking about her work.

When I got home I thought about the first time I met Natalia and how I was too quick to make assumptions about her, it wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to me about her work, it was that she was too shy to talk about it.  Now I’m looking forward to seeing her again the next time I visit Sue’s artroom and talking to her some more.

Natalia is incredibly talented and I think art is going to be an important part of her life.

I’m thinking of the students in my sewing class.  The regulars like Paris, Hser Nay, Jayla and Natalia.  And the kids that came once to learn a little about sewing because they were curious.

I’m thinking of them because they’re the kids I know.   But there are over a hundred kids that go to Bishop Maginn High School and this will be their last year together.

That’s one of the reasons why the Prom is so important this year.  Not only will it be the last one for Bishop Maginn but all the kids will have the opportunity to go to the Prom, not just the seniors.

In a way, it’s a celebration of the whole school and the students and teachers who made it so special over the years.

But to make the prom possible Bishop Maginn is in need of funding. That’s why Jon came up with the idea of asking for donations from the Army of Good to help make the last Prom at Bishop Maginn a very special one.

The teachers at the school know how to throw a Prom and Sue Silverstein said it’s actually easier when there are 100 kids than when there are 50.  So they know what to do, now they just need to raise some money to make it all possible.

So if you’d like to help you can send a check to Mike Tolan, Bishop Maginn School, 75 Park Avenue, Albany, N.Y., 12202; please write “Prom Fund” on the check memo.

If you wish to send small contributions or prefer sending money online,  you can send them to Jon Katz, Bishop Maginn (Prom Fund) via Paypal, [email protected], or through Venmo, Jon Katz@Jon-Katz-13(or by check, Jon Katz,   Bishop Maginn Prom Fund, P.O.  Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

Thank you!

A few weeks ago someone sent me Christmas fabric for the students at Bishop Maginn to work with.  None of them showed any interest in it till today.

Today everyone wanted to make a Christmas Potholder.  With a few weeks of experience,  most of them were able to get a potholder done in one day.    I could really see how much they had learned.

Camela, the student who knew how to thread a sewing machine, but not sew, was back.  She had her potholder all pinned together and ready to sew, but decided she wanted to use Christmas fabric instead. So she began again, getting good practice in piecing it toghere.  She did a great job sewing it on the machine and when it came time for her to sew the opening closed by hand, Natalia helped her.

Natalia was so uncertain when she first started sewing three weeks ago.  Now she’s showing other students what to do.  She said she’s going to give her potholder to her mother for Christmas.

This is the second potholder that Jayla finished.  All the students are still having a hard time making the hangers.  I’m thinking of a new way of showing them how to do it for the next class.

When I got to Sue’s classroom, the sewing cart that Jon ordered was there. One of Sue’s students put it together and organized all the sewing tools in the drawers.  All the potholders in process were in one draw so it made it easy for everyone to find their work from the week before.

I’m going to try to get some loose balsam for the next class to make small sachets.  It should be something we can make quickly as a last-minute Christmas gift for those who want to make them.

It was pillow day at Bishop Maginn.  With some of the donations I received from a few of you, I got some polyfill stuffing for the lunchtime sewing class in Sue Silverstein’s art room.

Hser Nay, Paris, and Jayla were there as usual.  They picked up where they left off last class.

But it was the first time sewing for Natalia.  She had to be talked into it.  Sue, who knows each of her kids well,  was able to convince Natalia to try by appealing to her desire to make her own clothes, because she doesn’t like dressing like everyone else.

Natalia is shy and was afraid, to even press down on the foot pedal.  She surprised me and herself by having great control over the machine and sewing an almost perfectly straight line the first time she tried. She would hardly look at me when we first began, giggling nervously.  But by the end of the class she posed with her pillow, looking straight into the camera.

When it was time to hand sew the pillow closed, Natalia was more confident about it because she’s seen her grandmother sew by hand.

Hser nay was ready to stuff her pillow when she got to class. She was the first one I showed how to finish it off by sewing the opening closed by hand.  Thanks to Elizabeth we had lots of different colors of thread, so Hser Nay was able to find a green that matched her pillow.  Her long nails made it hard for her to thread her needle but were perfect for pushing the polyfill into the corners of the pillow.

Jayla found the patchwork piece she put together two weeks ago.  She chose a plaid for the backing and sewed them together with a little help.  She was just finishing her pillow up as I was leaving for the day.

Paris got to the class late, so I didn’t get to spend too much time with her.  But she figured out how to sew the front of her pillow to the back and cut it to size without my help.  She’s been working on this patchwork piece outside of our lunchtime class.  I asked Paris and Hser Nay to show her how to sew the opening closed since I had to leave before she got to it.

Everyone was able to thread their needles when it came time to do the hand sewing.  But the tricky part was tying the knot.  I showed them two different ways of doing it. I also showed them how to tie off the thread when they were done.  I’m not sure they’ll remember that, but I imagine we’ll have a chance to do some more hand sewing again soon.