Document text
Photo by Bob Pennell Cafeteria worker Sophie Flores was surprised with pillows and a quilt by appreciative students at the Talent Alternative Program School Wednesday. The students used math to fit together the pieces, and sewed the patchwork themselves. Talent students give a gift of warmth By JONEL ALECCIA When Sophie Flores donated a box of fabric scraps to students at a Talent alternative school, it was just one more way to take care of the kids. After all, the 69-year-old cafeteria worker already brings them lunch every day, tucking in extra fruit or double portions of pickles just to keep the students happy. On Wednesday, they returned the favor -- with a flourish. Grinning and giggling, the dozen members of the Talent Alternative Program School presented Flores with a king-sized patchwork quilt pieced together from some of the very scraps she gave them. "It's for you! It's for you!" the students chorused. Then they unfolded a bedspread fashioned from 16 handmade squares. Backed with blue-flowered flannel, bordered in navy velvet, the quilt was a surprise gift for the widow who once told the students all she wanted was a pretty bed. "Oh my goodness!" Flores said. "Oh, that's lovely! Is that for me?" The quilt of eight-sided stars was the culmination of several lessons, said teacher Debrah Whaley. She supervises the 2-year-old program, which provides an educational alternative for 11- to 15-year-olds from Talent Middle School. The students spent three months working on the quilt, using math skills to create the geometric figures, art skills to coordinate colors and designs and fine motor skills to execute the sewing. Along the way, they learned a few things about compassion and community as well, Whaley said. "I told the kids we're going to honor an elder in our community with this quilt," she said. "Who do you want it to be? They all said, `Sophie."' No one else was even considered, said seventh-grader Tiffany Koontz, 13. "We thought Sophie was just the most special-est thing," says Koontz, who was one of four girls who sewed together the individual squares. "She brings us lunch every day and if we don't have pickles, she'll go back and get them." Keeping the quilt a secret for several months was difficult for the exuberant students, many of whom have trouble with attendance and discipline in traditional classrooms. "We almost blew it once," said Koontz. "She almost saw." But the experience of working individually and together on a project for someone they cared about was good, Whaley said. "We'd all sit there sewing and it was very calming. We'd have these amazing conversations," Whaley said. "And nobody was fighting." Instead, the students were gaining both practical skills and a measure of pride. "I made that one!" said sixth-grader Ray Morris, pointing to his eight-sided star. "And I made her a pillow." Some materials for the quilt came from Flores, but others were donated by program parents. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland contributed fabric for backing. Flores plans to use the quilt on a new bed in a new apartment recently acquired through a low-income housing program. The mother of five moved to Talent from California after her husband died. She has been living with her daughter, Lori Hollis, 41. "I'll put this on my bed and I'll think about the kids," Flores said, fingering the warm comforter. Then she paused, remembering the reason she comes daily to the Talent school: to deliver lunch. On Wednesday, it was nachos. "Let's go!" she told the kids. "After I bring your food in, I'll give each one of you a hug." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA