Students create dresses for Relay awareness
BY STEPHANIE KOHL skohl@pioneerlocal.com February 22, 2012 9:36AM
Barrington Tuesday 02.21.12. Barrington High School fashion and merchandising department students are shown with paper dresses they created in support of Relay For Life on Tuesday, February 21, 2012, at the school. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 24, 2012 8:09AM
A class of Barrington High School fashion and merchandising students have done their part to help spread the word about the American Cancer Society and the upcoming Barrington Relay For Life.
Students in Carla Darlington’s clothing construction and design class created nine Relay for Life-themed purple dresses - made out of paper. The dresses will be on display at various businesses around town.
“Now we will be showcasing them around all of Barrington for the next three months to help promote the Purple Heals in Barrington, a month-long series of events that supports shopping and dining in 60010 by all of our residents and also inspires them to join in the fight against cancer for the Relay For Life of Barrington on June 8,” said Joanne Dalessandro, chair of Barrington Relay For Life.
Darlington said the class had prepared two dresses for the Relay For Life kick-off event last month and the response from business owners was overwhelmingly positive, as was the demand.
“Anything we can do for Relay For Life is a good thing,” Darlington said of making the dresses, adding many students in the class have been inspired to participate further, inquiring about making a team.
The dresses were designed around Relay’s theme of celebrating more birthdays and were made out of fliers and other Relay For Life promotional paper materials.
The challenge of making dresses from paper was a bit of a headache for the students at first, but they kept one thing in mind, that it was for a good cause.
“It’s for cancer,” became a reminder to the girls when things got tough, Darlington said.
Sophomore Mallory Blackburn said trying to form a paper dress to the mannequin figure proved a challenge, but the girls eventually got the hang of it. The dress she designed and created with senior Shannon Banning and junior Katie McSweeney also featured more than 200 paper flowers on its skirt.
“It was rewarding to know that it was going to a good cause,” McSweeney said.
Senior Claire Sincox said she tried to design her dress to look like a cupcake in keeping with the theme of Relay For Life. At the 2011 Relay For Life of Barrington, a world record was set for having more than 17,000 cupcakes on a display tower for the event.
“It’s nice to know something I love doing can help such a great cause,” Sincox said.
Students who participated in creating the nine dresses include: Freshmen Erika Anderson, Briahna Lenihan, Chava Solberg and Jessica Terrill; Sophomores Katrina Gehrisch, Elise Gibbons, Kyleigh Simmons, Melissa Stathakis, Meagan Suppes, Mallory Blackburn and Nicole Thomas; Juniors Emilia Guzman, Brianne Kraimer, Grace Miller, Anna Mehringer, Jessica Reed, Katherine Sodeika, Katie McSweeney and Allison Werner; and Seniors Madison Keller, Shannon Banning, Yesenia Guzman and Claire Sincox.
The next Relay For Life team meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at Barrington High School.
For more information on Relay, visit relayforlife.org/barringtonil.
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