Two Republic students brought home top design honors from the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) national competition during the summer. Both Ashton Rogers (fashion design) and Maddy Gremling (interior design) received gold medals in their events.
Rogers, who had limited sewing experience, had never designed clothing before. “I really had no intention of even joining FCCLA,” she said. “But once I started my first sewing project, Ms. (Kailey) Grapes told me I would be good at it.”
Rogers learned most of what she needed to know in her sewing class, let her natural affinity for art take over from there.
“I’ve always been artistic, and I guess this is where a lot of it shows,” she said. She set to work creating clothing she would enjoy wearing.
“I have not felt comfortable in my own body and I wanted to make something that would make me feel beautiful and keep me comfortable throughout the day. I sewed a jumpsuit together, and that’s where that came from.
In her interior design event, Gremling designed “a resort that was eco-friendly and Millennial-centered.” She designed the guest rooms and bathrooms, and the main lounge area. After laying out the floor plan, she also picked out the samples needed to fully portray the design.
“I enjoyed seeing my vision come together as a whole,” she said. “A big part of that was finding my samples, which involved my mom and I running around trying to find the perfect sample to complete the design.”
Success at the national level influenced Rogers and Gremling in different ways. Rogers, encouraged by her success in competition last year, is considering a career in fashion design for the first time.
For Gremling, the gold medal did not change her plans to pursue a career in nursing. And as she enters her senior year, she may steer away from interior design in future competitions in favor of a different experience. “I have not thought that far ahead, but I might try my hand at a different category,” she said.