Passing the Torch to the Next Generation: Just had to share!
 

I teach Family and Consumer Science to middle schoolers. I know, I have the BEST job ever! In January, my students prepared projects for our County Youth Show. I brought my FW, 99K, and 99 Centennial handcrank to school to help with sewing projects. The handcrank was loved by all! Yesterday I picked up a 99 Centennial with a knee control. Horrible shape and filthy! Took it immediately to school. Today several kids got involved in the cleaning and motor-ectomy. Two boys especially LOVED every greasy, filthy minute and they were so excited about restoring her beauty! We went through loads of cotton balls, Q-tips, and sewing machine oil. I will order a spoked handwheel and handcrank from Jenny and they cannot wait to help put her back together! This is my first conversion so I hope it goes well!

Can't get my photo to load, so just the story today.

That is a wonderful story, you are inculcating the next generation of collectors...and goodness knows I'll have a few to move onto them.

Wonderful story!!!!

That is music to my ears. It's amazing what kids really enjoy once they try something. My ds friends came round when I was sewing one day, they wanted to try out my janome but, they had as much fun with the childs hand crank I have on the shelf in my sewing room

That is wonderful! They no longer teach sewing at the middle OR high school in my district. It makes me so sad... I learned to sew in the eighth grade. My mother and aunts were not sewers, so if it hadn't been for home ec in school, I probably would have never learned...

WOW!! Great to hear your story!!!

Fantastic! It is such a heartwarming story. Another fine, old, machine saved to go on to better things for a good reason. Keep up the good work. Maybe those greasy boys will also save more machines as they find them. You must have the patience of a saint to be a teacher these days. We appreciate you more than you know.

What a wonderful thing to encourage young people to get involved in such a great project, wonder how many will be future quilters/collector??

You do have a wonderful job! Neat that you are able to bring in the machines, and let them have all the hands-on experience. Curious to see where these kids are in their interest in machines and/or sewing in a few years.
Kudos to you!

Family and consumer science... Boy is that needed in these days of fat foods and exploding credit cards. We lived w/in our means (and the paychecks were very low!), ate very nutritious foods, kept enough in the pantry to carry us over emergencies.... and our kids? They spend their money on paying the interest on their credit cards!!! And they eat fatty foods and often at fast food places. They are smart, college educated (scholarships and loans which we paid off after my father died and the inheritance was enough to cover them all) but they have no overall sense of how to be smart consumers. Love them, but.... where did they come from? Glad to know that some schools teach these things!!!

p.s. My 15 year old grandson came to visit for a couple of weeks and made a quilt for his grandfather (lives in another country) who is recuperating from a stroke. He will probably be wheel chair bound from here on out, so the grandson made him a quilt with a very colorful Christian logo because the G.F. was a minister all his working years. I had surgery before the quilt was done and he finished it w/o me hovering about! He said he was "exercising my creative side"!