As an 8th-grader at Winterberry charter school, I am expected to take on a year-long project that uses many of the things I’ve learned in my previous years of school. As my “8th grade project,” I decided to make a ski jumping suit for someone in my club that needed one. I’ve never known much about the suits, and I’ve always been so curious. I thought this project would be a perfect opportunity to get many of my questions answered.
In late September, I emailed Jeanne Molitor, asking if she could be my mentor for making the suit. Jeanne has fixed suits that have holes or tears in them, and she has also made suits for a few people in our club, so I thought she was the perfect person to ask. To learn more about the suits, I talked with Jed Hinkley, who was kind enough to get me lots of helpful information about competition requirements and fabric characteristics. Another useful resource I spoke with was Dali. Dali is a company in Slovenia that manufactures ski jumping suits. They also gave me tons of helpful information that I needed to complete my project.
This project, for sure, is going to be the highlight of my 8th-grade year. Not only is this the most extended project I’ve done, but it’s also the most enjoyable project I’ve ever been assigned. Instead of making the suit for myself, I wanted to make it for a jumper in my club as a way to give back to my community for all their support over the years. The suit is now done and has already been jumped in several times. Now I am working on gathering as much information as I can before my school presentation in April.
By: Skyler Amy
1 Comment
Nice job Skylar! Jeanne Molitor