CATCHING UP
CatRock Students Venture into Mask Making
CatRock students are provided with learning and growth opportunities that help them acquire life-long skills and empower them to become socially responsible change makers. The COVID-19 pandemic inspired the CatRock teens to make environmentally friendly masks for their families and friends after seeing so many disposable masks littering the streets and parks of the Bronx.
It all started when the CatRock students began creating a Climate Change Quilt – funded by a Patagonia grant – that would communicate the need for environmental action. Craig Meisner, the CatRock co-founder and executive director, hired Pamela Cooper, a solution-based designer and Parsons School of Design graduate, to teach the students quilt design and sewing. The nonprofit also invested in sewing machines and all the necessary materials. In June, after months of living under the pandemic lockdown with no end in sight, the students decided that making masks would be more timely.
“Our kids came together to solve a community problem and make safe and inspiring masks,” explains Craig.
With Patagonia’s support and Pamela’s expertise, CatRock students started the mask making project in the CatRock Adventure Makerspace and Design Lab at the CatRock Lodge. Here students repair and recycle used Patagonia outdoor gear and clothing thereby cutting down on consumption and reinforcing their role in environmental sustainability.
Working with Pamela, now officially CatRock’s Maker in Residence, the students learned how to design and sew masks in 10 different styles: those with multiple layers, preformed, accordion style, and masks with and without filters. The students also designed masks that promote the outdoors and feature scenes of lakes, national parks, and positive outdoor messages.
The mask project went way beyond design and sewing. Pamela taught the students the benefits of working with different mask fabrics including high tech materials. The students also learned how to source materials needed in mask production such as fabrics, toggles, elastic, thread, nose pieces, patches, fabric cutting tools, and how to use computer design programs.
By November, the students had made 300 masks for CatRock family and friends. Then the NYC Inspiring Connections Outdoors (NYC ICO) ordered 150 masks for students involved in their programs. Now the CatRock students have orders to fill. “The students are becoming social entrepreneurs while learning about logistics and supply chain,” notes Craig.
Over the course of the CatRock Mask Project, students became specialists and took on leadership roles. Christopher L. is now a master sewer who is teaching others the craft in addition to taking an important position in quality control. And Christian A. is deeply involved in the supply chain.
For Pamela, working with the students has been so inspiring. “CatRock is a great organization that helps these kids learn new skills and opens the world to them. My experience working with them has been great and I’ve learned to love each one like a brother. I think the mask project has taught them that there’s more to life than school and now they want to start their own fashion label.”
The CatRock Mask Project is a culmination of the work done in the Adventure Makerspace and Design Lab repairing worn Patagonia jackets and camping gear. On Saturday, November 7, the CatRock Mask Project team’s enthusiasm and sewing skills were on display at the Patagonia store in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. Team members Chris, Andrew, Pamela, and Craig were on site outdoors – all masked up of course – sewing custom CatRock masks which were available for purchase. 100% of proceeds supported CatRock’s fall Double Your Impact fundraising campaign.
Gisele Cazaudumec, Patagonia retail team leader and environmental point person, described how much customers and employees enjoyed engaging with the students and learning about the CatRock Mask Project: “I don’t know if we’ve ever had a group come that was more hands on, excited, and engaged with our team and our customers than CatRock. It created such a memorable experience. Sewing the masks on the spot was amazing.”
Patagonia has been an important partner of CatRock. “We are able to send CatRock a lot of items we aren’t able to send anyone else because they have taught students how to fix and repurpose items,” continues Gisele. “That’s central to Patagonia’s mission. That kind of collaboration is so meaningful in terms of how the CatRock students are actively living the Patagonia mindset of repair or upcycle.”
The CatRock Mask Project has inspired the launch of the CatRock Adventure Store in January 2021 when the public can buy CatRock branded masks, shirts, hats, and hoodies designed and created by the students. All proceeds will support the nonprofit’s mission. This unparalleled mask project – fueled by the students’ desire to help their community – reinforces so many lessons that CatRock aims to share.
“While we are excited about selling the CatRock merchandise, this project is about so much more than that,” reports Craig. “You can buy masks anywhere. This is about our students solving a community problem and learning to be social entrepreneurs: designing, making, and selling products that help people. It’s about doing something positive while learning new skills that will last a lifetime.”