Adulting 101: Mica Mountain upperclassmen learn Home-Ec skills at Midtown nonprofit

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Midtown non-profit Mending Souls invited upperclassmen at Mica Mountain High School to learn home-economics skills.

Some of what students in Mica Mountain HS's Adulting 101 class learn is budgeting, changing tires and communicating with others.
Most schools don’t teach home economics anymore — but many teachers and mentors argue the hard and soft skills students can learn are still valuable. That’s part of the reason why leaders at Mending Souls started to offer free sewing classes.

“Knowing all this stuff leaving high school is super cool because like a lot of people like me, are like, ‘I wish I learned that," senior Riley Johnson said. "It’s cool to be able to graduate high school, learning all that stuff."

Johnson and the class made beds and blankets for rescue animals and bead bags for hospitalized children. Johnson says she learned to sew when she was younger. “It’s super fun to come here and know that the projects we’re working on are going to the community," she said.

Mending Souls founder and president Michelle Don Carlos invited young people and others in the community to join in this program. Don Carlos says with this volunteer help, Mending Souls can make up to 50 different items in 30 different categories which include bereavement bags and chemotherapy caps.

“There's always something new to learn," Don Carlos said. "If you want to learn to make cards or you want to do 3D printing... embroidery, sewing, crochet and knitting, you name it — there's always a textile that will put a smile on somebody’s face.”

Many of the items the students made are going to Old Souls Animal Rescue and Retirement Home and the Emerge Center Against Domestic Abuse.

Neil "Professor 3D" Martinez taught the class about 3-D printing. Martinez said he thinks knowing this technology gives students a chance to learn how to adapt from failure, and start over on a design and print.
“I’ll teach them, you know, at least that when it seems hopeless, they can think their way through it," Martinez said. "So, build little life skills like that with 3d printing, or even just expanding creativity really.”

Micah Mountain HS junior Hailey Paisant said she learned the importance of taking her time and paying close attention to detail through sewing.

“It definitely teaches you how to be careful with your hands because you don’t want to poke yourself," Paisant said. "It teaches you like patience and how you gotta go slow and not rush it, because then you’ll mess it up."