Summer 2022 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
Last month, we celebrated our student entrepreneurs, their impressive projects, and the future possibilities that will take shape in our Innovation Center!
We witnessed the journey our young people are navigating—tapping into their creativity, developing their skills as designers and entrepreneurs, building relationships with supportive adults and peers, and broadening their sense of what is possible… a world where young people shape their own futures. Their smiles, enthusiasm, and creations spoke volumes!
And this is just the beginning! We look forward to welcoming you to many more events at our Innovation Center. In the meantime, we are excited to share what’s happening at TPZ this summer in this month’s newsletter.
Thank you for believing in our young entrepreneurs!
The TPZ Team
Hats Off to the Grads!
As we celebrate the end of a successful first semester in person at our Innovation Center, it’s hard to believe that we just welcomed students into our new space this April. We are both sad to say goodbye to our class of graduating seniors and thrilled to see all that they will do next. To all our new alumni, congratulations and stay in touch!
Volunteer to Support Our Summer Camp and Runway Show
Our summer Fashion Forward STEAM Camp is giving students space to explore their creative side and push their understanding of fashion, activism, technology, and design. Students will create a fashion look that raises awareness of an important issue, such as sustainability, and is enhanced by technology, like 3-D printers and laser cutters. Their creations will be featured at our Fashion Showcase at the end of the summer.
One student, Esperanza, said she always wanted to design a dress and is excited to finally get the chance this summer with TPZ: “I wanted to show that technology can be elegant– when you look online, there’s lots of clothing with tech, but nothing elegant, like something you could wear to the Met Gala. […] Next time, I want to make something completely different.”
You can help students like Esperanza bring their visions to life! We are looking for volunteers who have experience in sewing, makerspace tech, and doing hair, nails, and makeup to support the Fashion Showcase.
Students Learn With Converse
This summer, TPZ students are also learning about marketing, branding, and apparel and sneaker design from experts at Converse.
Throughout these Deep Dives, students are learning the ins and outs of marketing to create a brand awareness campaign proposal for TPZ. Hamza, who participated in both the Deep Dive and our entrepreneurship program, said, “The Deep Dive and working on this project made us more confident to speak out and share our opinions.”
On their first day, Converse’s VP of Global Brand Creative, Adam Cohn, introduced students to Converse’s mission and creative direction to set the stage for what makes a compelling brand awareness campaign. Students got to visit Converse’s headquarters in Boston, as well as their Rubber Tracks Museum and flagship retail store, where they received gift cards to purchase their own Converse products!
Thank you to the team at Converse for your partnership and support of TPZ students!
Registration is Open for Fall 2022!
In our entrepreneurship program, students design and launch a business through a real-world start-up process. They’ll begin exploring their passions and interests by identifying opportunities or problems in need of solutions.
Students receive a $22 stipend for every class they attend, get access to state-of-the-art technology in our professional makerspace, and may have the opportunity to earn high school and early college credit! And, there’s free food and healthy snacks.
Sign up your student for our program today, or share this information with a young person in your life who is ready for new opportunities.
TPZ Staff In the Community and the Makerspace
The summer has brought opportunities for TPZ staff to engage in the community around our Innovation Center. We collected and prepped food and stocked up local community fridges to help our neighbors who are experiencing food insecurity.
It has also been a chance for all TPZ staff to learn more about the technology we offer in our professional-quality makerspace. While our students and educators use the makerspace every day, many of our staff members in other departments are still learning about our technologies and what we can make with them. Staff in all departments had a chance to get trained on our laser cutters, print-to-garment machine, and brand new Bernina sewing machines.