HOLLISTER
Inside the third-grade classroom, a group of students gathered around a quilt, proudly showing off the squares they designed by hand.
Eight-year-old Bradley Dickson described his block, which he decorated with cars.
“I liked to sew it,” he said, then explaining that before putting together the quilt, he hadn’t known anything about sewing.
The students were taught how to quilt and given the opportunity to make their very own patch by retired teacher Kathy Chestnut, who volunteers in Tami Ortiz’s classroom at Gabilan Hills every Tuesday.
The students made the quilt as part of a unit studying tradition. Ortiz had asked Chestnut to bring in her antique sewing machine with a hand crank to show the students how to sew. Chestnut came up with the idea to actually have the kids put together a quilt.
“I had done it a couple of times with my own class,” said Chestnut, who retired in 1999.
Each kid designed and sewed his or her own quilting block. Chestnut, who attends quilting retreats, put the blocks together into a colorful blanket that represents the entire third-grade classroom.
“The kids have been so excited,” she said. “After we started this, I became very popular with them.”
This interaction with the students is precisely what drew Chestnut back to the classroom after she retired from her 24-year career.
“I miss the kids. I don’t miss the paperwork. I don’t miss yard duty. But I miss the kids,” she said.
The students appear to enjoy having Chestnut back in the classroom as well. During the quilting process, she would bring in the pieces along every step of the way to show students the inner-workings of the process.
Sasha Aguilar, 8, said she liked learning how to sew the quilt.
“I liked having (Chestnut) show how to put the pieces together,” she said.
Sasha drew a house on her quilting square.
“My grandma lives in a house in Mexico, so I chose to make that,” she said.
Ortiz, who considers Chestnut her mentor teacher, said besides teaching the students how to quilt, she has also helped her become a better teacher. Chestnut used to teach next door to her and helped when she was first starting the profession.
Now that she helps out in the classroom, Chestnut said she is still learning from her.
“It’s nice because she’s a teacher – she’ll walk around and catch the things that maybe I didn’t,” Ortiz said. “It’s nice to have that extra pair of eyes.
Ortiz said she hopes to have Chestnut come and volunteer in the future, and hopefully to do another quilt classroom.
Asked if she would come back, Chestnut smiled broadly.
“Of course,” she said.
