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02/16/2022 07:30 AMGrowing up in Wallingford, Kathryn Speeg always was intrigued by fashion and design. After graduating from Marist College’s fashion program, Kathryn spent more than 10 years working as a women’s sportswear designer in New York City. As much as she enjoyed her career in New York City, when she and her husband, Steven, started a family, they decided to move back to Wallingford.
Now Kathryn is sharing her experience and her passion for the fashion industry with students at North Haven High School as a teacher in the school’s family consumer science program and as a volunteer designer for the school’s spring musical. She and her team of students are currently putting finishing touches on costumes for Mamma Mia!, which is scheduled for four performances Thursday through Sunday, March 3 to 6.
“When I was hired here, I saw that North Haven High School puts on these elaborate musicals, so when I joined the school, it was natural to help with the costumes,” says Kathryn. “I created a costume club involving students to take on costume design.”
Kathryn and her costume crew, which consists of a half-dozen students, spends three nights a week working on the costumes and designs for the show. Now the production is quickly approaching, they will spend more time with the cast as they put the finishing touches on the costumes. During the show, the crew assists cast members with changes backstage.
Kathryn is excited to see the curtains rise on Mamma Mia!, especially after having to take a break from performing due to COVID. The last show she worked on was Phantom of the Opera, which was performed just before the COVID shutdown in 2020.
Kathryn’s work on the plays at North Haven High School isn’t the first time that she’s had a hand in costume design. When her children—19-year-old Meghan, 16-year-old Noah, and 14-year-old Cooper—were young, they showed an interest in the arts, much like their parents. As they began to get involved in their school plays, Kathryn was quick to volunteer to help with costumes. Kathryn also used her fashion and costume design skills as Meghan was also involved in dance.
As her children grew, she decided to explore options to move forward in her career. Kathryn took classes at night to earn a degree in family and consumer science as well as a master’s in education through a combined program at the University of St. Joseph.
“I knew there was a need for teachers and that there were a lot of schools in Connecticut with programs in family and consumer science,” says Kathryn. “North Haven has an amazing career education program and I’m lucky to be part of that.”
When Kathryn first joined the faculty at North Haven High School, she started by teaching a sewing class. Kathryn is part of the Consumer Science Department, which also includes interior design, culinary arts, automotive tech, woodshop, CAD, and child development with its own preschool.
“We’re lucky to have such a big department,” says Kathryn. “It’s all hand-on learning and creativity. Hands-on learning and visual learning is so important. So many students don’t excel in standardized testing, reading, or reiteration so this is their chance to excel. They get a break, a time to use their hands and think creatively outside the box, and it’s great to see so many of them excel in this department.”
She has since helped to build the fashion program to include a fashion, sewing, and design course, an advanced class, and an independent study option. She has also helped to add to the resources available in class, such as sewing machines, dress forms, and more.
“The kids are really loving it and the numbers are going up,” says Kathryn. “We’ve built it up quite a bit.”
In the introductory class, Kathryn teaches students how to use the sewing machine and take proper measurements. The first project is creating a pair of pajama pants. In the advanced class, students are tasked with creating an up-cycled jacket. Kathryn has seen students fashion old pairs of blue jeans into a jean jackets, a tuxedo into a motorcycle-style jacket, and more.
While the program has grown immensely over the six years Kathryn has been involved, she is hoping to continue to add to the offerings in the future. She hopes to see a third level of fashion added to be taken before the independent study.
“With the STEAM requirements for graduation changing, I’m hoping more will look at classes like this,” says Kathryn. “The fashion industry is a billion-dollar industry that’s just an hour away from us in New York.”
Kathryn enjoys sharing stories of her time working in New York with her students. She often tells them about her time volunteering to dress models backstage during fashion week, her semester abroad in London, and the glamor of the red carpet.
“I just love the creativity and inclusivity of fashion,” says Kathryn, who enjoys traveling and heading back to New York City to see Broadway plays. “It is open to all kinds of people and lifestyles and never any judgment. I like to share how my college was like Project Runway and I try to bring that to them and the play is one way to be able to do that.”
Now two weeks out from opening night, Kathryn’s focus is on finalizing the “1970s vibe” for the characters in Mamma Mia! She is looking forward to seeing all of the pieces come together for the production, which her family attends each year.
“It’s a nice thing to be able to share with them and they’ve helped out where they could in the past,” says Kathryn. “Even though I’m only a peg in the wheel, to see it all come together and the students become those characters, is by far one of the proudest moments I experience being a teacher.”
For updates, follow North Haven High School’s Mamma Mia on Facebook.