Sewing up a gold medal

Randa Sorensen didn’t know how to sew, but that didn’t stop her from placing first in the FCCLA state competition with an outfit she made from scratch.

“I feel awesome,” Sorensen said, an Encampment School freshmen. “I feel proud of myself because I had never sewn before. I was so excited when they said my name.”

Sorensen’s project, a piece of formal wear she made to wear at school before basketball competitions, received a gold medal in the FCCLA textile arts competition held in March.

Sorensen said her success marks the first gold medal she has won since she started participating in FCCLA in the seventh grade, an achievement she made without knowing how to sew.

Sorensen credits part of her success to working late hours on her project. However, most of the credit has to go to her textile arts teacher Cheryl Munroe, she said.

“Cheryl Munroe is my favorite all-time teacher. She will do anything for us kids,” Sorensen said. “She will stay with us until 9 o’clock after school, work with us on the weekends. She will do anything that she can to get us ready for FCCLA.”

Sorensen, originally from Brush,Wyo., started her high school career in Encampment this semester. In that time, Munroe taught her how to sew and helped her win a gold medal.

“I try to fit my students in different areas where I see their strengths,” Munroe said. “For example, Randa is in my textile arts class, and she really took to doing the hands-on sewing. She just really had the skill to be a good seamstress.”

Munroe, who noticed Sorensen had the skill and interest in sewing, began to nurture that skill, she said. Munroe would bring in fabrics and helped Sorensen develop an idea.

“She hadn’t done any of this before, but she was willing to try,” Munroe said.

Munroe noticed Sorensen’s skill was developing well.

“Some kids you explain it to and it’s like greek to them, but Randa got it. She understood it,” Munroe said.

It wasn’t until later in the semester Sorensen learned Encampment had an FCCLA program.

“When I moved here, I didn’t think they would have a lot of clubs and stuff, so I was excited to learn they had FCCLA,” she said.

She joined and later decided to compete in the state competition with a sewing project.

“I had been sewing outfits in the class, so I looked at it,” Sorensen said. “That’s when I decided I wanted to make an outfit for competition.”

She worked harder on the project as the deadline closed in.

“I stayed after school until 9 o’clock sometimes. I even came in on the weekends,” Sorensen said. “I worked very hard. ... I think the hardest part of it was this was my first year actually sewing.”

All of her hard work paid off in the end when she won the gold medal, she said.

Sorensen said she plans on joining FCCLA next year, along with some other clubs she did not have the opportunity to join this year.