Students in Hempfield support programs sell handmade items through boutique

Jack Wonderling carefully lifted the lid of the heat press machine and placed a fresh tote bag inside. He pressed down on the handle of the press and held it for about a minute until the design — a glittery blue Spartan logo — was transferred onto the outside of the canvas.

Wonderling, 19, is a member of Hempfield Area High School’s autistic support and self-contained learning support program. He made this bag — and many other items — for the Perfectly Imperfect Boutique, a student-run business that allows students in Hempfield’s support programs to build workforce skills by making handmade products.

“We used the heat press to make pillows for the fall and winter sale,” Wonderling said, pointing to a pillow emblazoned with pumpkins and fall sayings. “Now, we’re using the tumbler (press) for the bigger mugs, but you have to wear gloves, because if you take them out without gloves, you’ll burn yourself.”

Along with the pillows and bags, the store’s inventory includes jewelry, decorative wooden blocks, mugs and tumblers pressed with school logos, cards, tote bags and more. The items are sold by the group’s students at high school buildings and district events such as choral concerts. Monies raised go back into the program to purchase new equipment and materials.

The boutique program was founded in fall 2022 to give the students “more real-world life skills and job skills,” said high school autistic support teacher Amanda Montell.

“It’s grown a lot in two years. We started out very small with making some bracelets and cards and wood projects,” she said. “As we grow and we make profit, that profit gets turned back into the boutique, and everything that we need to keep making it bigger and better.”

Since its inception, the boutique — staffed by 12 to 15 students from ages 14 to 21 — has made about $4,000 to support equipment and materials costs. With upcoming spring sales, the teachers hope to raise funds to take the students on a field trip to reward them for their work.

“They’re making everything, they’re selling everything, they have their hands in all of it,” Montell said.

The boutique has been such a hit with teachers, students and community members that it sometimes runs out of products.

“It’s hard to keep up with inventory at this point,” said learning support teacher Sara Huth. “We would like to do more community outreach … It’s just supply and demand.”

Hands-on experience

The program is a part of a constellation of job and academic training that is offered to students in the autistic support and self-contained learning support program, which includes the Spartan Transition Center, a place where students practice skills associated with careers and independent living.

Other groups involved with the school, such as the student council, manufacturing and tech ed classes, collaborate with the shop.

“Everything they do, we try to work on independent living skills and work-related skills,” said Amanda Murray, learning support teacher. “These kids run a coffee cart over at Harrold (Middle School) every Friday for staff. We do errands in the building, and any jobs that come up, we have the kids do. They deliver supplies, and we work in our cafeteria kitchen along with some other kids every day during second period.”

Craft teamwork

Autistic support teacher Chris Helfrich and his family spend some of their personal time helping out with the boutique. He and his sons cut wood blocks at home for the students to paint. In the future, the program hopes to develop a wood shop at the Transition Center.

For the spring sale, the students are working on a few wooden projects, including a patriotic red, white and blue block display and a wood Easter duck.

“We take into account (a student’s) temperament for that day as to what station they’re working on, and what their strengths and weaknesses and needs are, and also what their goals are,” he said.

Ideas for projects come from all directions, including parents, staff and family members, he said.

“We try to find a way to make it work with what the kids can do and what we can make at their level and take their strengths and their skills to make it something that is available, something we can build upon,” Helfrich said.

For the students in the program, participating lends a sense of independence, along with a chance to work on important skills, such as handling money, reading, and asking questions, Montell said,

“It helps them with their communication skills, especially in the classroom, if they need help or they need more of something, they’re asking that,” she said. “When we’re at the boutique, they’re interacting with the rest of the building, which is huge.”

“There’s just a lot of skills mixed into one when it comes to the boutique,” she added. “It just offers a lot of practice with skills that we’re working on already throughout our program.”