The Salt Lake Community College Fashion Institute held three open-house events last week for local high school students, with the aim of informing them about the college’s fashion program. 206 students in total visited the South City campus.
Ana Hill, a business teacher at South Jordan’s American Academy of Innovation, which visited the campus on April 2 with 16 high schoolers, said she had been looking for a college-level fashion school to show her students. The SLCC Fashion Institute website was the most enticing to visit, she said, and after researching more, she found the program to fit well with the academy’s type of learning.
“The American Academy of Innovation is all about problem-based learning,” Hill said. “We [teachers at the academy] are encouraged to take our students out of the building to have real-world, hands-on experiences in the community. Salt Lake Community College fulfilled this.”
Hill said staff at the institute did an excellent job of presenting the opportunities available in the fashion industry. The other two visits were from Copper Hills High and the Jordan School District, which Copper Hills belongs to. Those visits saw 50 and 140 students, respectively, on April 3 and 4.
Program manager of the institute, Mojdeh Sakaki, took the students on a tour during each open house. They went from classroom to classroom, and Sakaki pointed out to students the “Vitrine of Fame,” a glass showcase that displays the work and achievements of SLCC alumni.
Students also heard from Matt Monson, an assistant professor for the college’s fashion program. He spoke about the creative process involved with the craft and outlined the three specialization paths available at the institute: tech apparel, design and fashion merchandising. Monson also discussed examples of potential careers in the industry.
After Monson’s presentation, institute staff placed the high school students in groups and gave them five sheets of paper, tape and scissors, with the goal of making the tallest tower possible. The activity’s point was for the students to collaborate and stick to the provided guidelines.
Aubrey Nash, a first-year fashion major at SLCC, said that, while she knows she made the right decision by coming to the institute, she wishes her high school had also done a field trip to SLCC.
“I didn’t know anything about fashion merchandising until I started at SLCC, and I ended up liking the Fashion Institute program,” Nash said. “I didn’t get to visit fashion schools while in high school.”
Another SLCC fashion student, Kazumi, who asked to only be identified by their first name, said they appreciated how the open house allowed the high school students to come and see first-hand the opportunities available to them — as opposed to simply finding the information online.
“It is such a good experience for this generation,” Kazumi said. “It is such a digital age that [these] students live in. They are constantly on their phones. Just to see and hear in person how you can use this field is a great experience.”
Monson called the visits a success and said they helped high school students better manage the overwhelming change that entering college can sometimes be.
“Sometimes the gap between high school and college seems huge,” Monson said. “Opportunities like this allow students to come see what we are doing and creating in the college environment. It bridges that gap; it opens possibilities to further their education.”
