![\"Sarai](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/REG-L-Upfashionistas1086.jpg\")
Sarai Martinez Najarro, 17, a senior at Reading High, displays a denim dress with train she created during Alvernia University’s Total Experience Learning Fashion and Sustainability Camp. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\nMost people would look at a stack of old newspapers and see recycling.<\/p>\n
Sarai Najarro saw a runway-worthy skirt.<\/p>\n
Najarro, 17, spent hours rolling and reinforcing hundreds of newspaper pieces with clear tape before assembling them into the sculptural skirt she paired with a top made from remnant fabric.<\/p>\n
The painstaking process stretched the Reading High School senior\u2019s creativity and technical skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really wanted to challenge myself with this piece,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted to try something different, something new, something out of my comfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Najarro, who is studying fashion manufacturing at Reading-Muhlenberg Career and Technology Center, was one of dozens of students who participated in Alvernia University\u2019s Total Experience Learning Fashion and Sustainability Camp.<\/p>\n
Sarai Martinez Najarro, 17, a senior at Reading High, displays a denim dress with train she created during Alvernia University’s Total Experience Learning Fashion and Sustainability Camp. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
The group of fifth through 12th graders spent two four-day sessions learning that great fashion doesn\u2019t have to come from brand-new materials.<\/p>\n
Under the guidance of fashion designer and educator MeeAe Oh-Ranck, campers developed sewing and design skills while transforming donated clothing, fabric remnants and other discarded materials into original garments.<\/p>\n
The campers also explored the environmental consequences of the global textile industry and learned how recycling and upcycling can reduce waste.<\/p>\n
Like Najarro, several campers arrived with sewing experience.<\/p>\n
Wyomissing High School freshman Emily Hoffecker was already sewing some of her own clothes before creating her first complete outfit at camp.<\/p>\n
Estelle Machuzick, 15, a Wilson High School sophomore, and her sister Norah, 11, a sixth grader at Wilson West Middle School, were both taught by their grandmother and attended camp for the second year.<\/p>\n
Others had never used a sewing machine before.<\/p>\n
![\"Students](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/REG-L-Upfashionistas1079.jpg\")
Students work on their projects during Alvernia University’s Total Learning Experience Fashion and Sustainability Camp. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
All, regardless of skill level, brought imagination and ingenuity, Oh-Ranck said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe students have bright ideas, innovation and creativity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Rather than directing the students, Oh-Ranck said she encouraged each to pursue individual ideas, stepping in only to provide occasional tips and advice.<\/p>\n
The environmental lessons were woven into every project, Oh-Ranck said.<\/p>\n
The textile industry consumes vast amounts of water and energy, generates chemical pollution through dyeing and finishing processes, and produces millions of tons of waste each year, campers learned.<\/p>\n
![\"MeeAe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/REG-L-Upfashionistas1085.jpg\")
MeeAe Oh-Rank, director of the Fashion Sustainability Camp program at Alvernia University\u2019s Total Learning Experience in the College Towne campus, helps students realize their fashion ideas. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Otylia Waholek, 12, a seventh grader at Conrad Weiser Middle School, said those lessons changed the way she thinks about clothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know that all of the dyes can go into the rivers and lakes and pollute them and kill animals,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ten-year-old Pam Iswalt, a fifth grader at Gov. Mifflin Intermediate School, incorporated that knowledge into an allegorical design.<\/p>\n
Working with a partner, she created a flowing outfit with dangling strips of denim, lace and ribbon, inspired by jellyfish. The movement of the fabric streamers symbolizes ocean life, she explained, while also serving as a reminder of the way textile production and waste can harm aquatic ecosystems.<\/p>\n
![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/REG-L-Upfashionistas1080.jpg\")
From left, Natalie Poe, 13, an eighth grader at Wilson Southern Middle School; Charlotte Hill, 10, a fifth grader at Cornwall Terrace Elementary School; Cherub Tixeira, 11, a sixth grader at St Ignatius Loyola; Novalee Raser, 13, and eighth grader at Wilson Southern; Sarai Martinez Najarro, 17, a senior at Reading High, display their creations during Alvernia University’s Total Learning Experience Fashion and Sustainability Camp. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
The environmental lessons also shaped the work of sisters Grace, 11, and Hope McCalicher, 10, students at Gov. Mifflin Intermediate School.<\/p>\n
Inspired by the camp\u2019s emphasis on reusing materials, the sisters started with two pairs of pre-owned jeans. They deconstructed and reshaped the denim into an avant-garde ensemble inspired by steampunk fashion, complete with ruching, lace and vintage-style safety pins.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to help the environment,\u201d Grace said. \u201cWe\u2019re reusing things and taking those scraps and making them something.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/REG-L-Upfashionistas1084.jpg\")
From left, Pam Iswalt, 10, a fifth grader at Gov. Mifflin Intermediate; Norah Machuzick, 11, a sixth grader at Wilson West; and Otylia Waholek, 12, a seventh grader at Conrad Weiser Middle School display their work during Alvernia University’s Total Learning Experience Fashion and Sustainability Camp. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Natalie Poe, 13, a Wilson Southern Middle School eighth grader, also incorporated environmental lessons into her design.<\/p>\n
She and her partner, Quinn Kosher, a Wilson ninth grader, created a garment titled Beauty and the Beast, intended to represent both the creativity of fashion and its environmental costs.<\/p>\n
Many of the camp\u2019s materials came from Opportunity House\u2019s OppShop warehouse, Oh-Ranck said. The donated clothing and textiles gave students a chance to rethink what others had discarded, she said.<\/p>\n
![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/REG-L-Upfashionistas1082.jpg\")
From left, sisters Grace, 11, and Hope, 10, McCalicher, sixth and fifth graders at Gov. Mifflin Intermediate; Estelle Machuzick, 15, a sophomore at Wilson; Emily Hossecker, a freshman at Wyomissing, display their creations during Alvernia University’s Total Learning Experience Fashion and Sustainability Camp. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Campers also learned about the nonprofit\u2019s mission to aid those experiencing homelessness and how donated goods support people throughout the community.<\/p>\n
For Oh-Ranck, learning to sew is only part of the campers\u2019 experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about creating a product using someone else\u2019s trash,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re not just talking about fashion. We teach them environmental aspects, and we talk about how we can make a change.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the end of camp, old newspapers, worn denim and fabric remnants had become wearable art, and for the students, reminders that creativity and sustainability can go hand in hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most people would look at a stack of old newspapers and see recycling. Sarai Najarro saw a runway-worthy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,182,139,28,736,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-263345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-essential-reading","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}