| Students
raising funds to attend fashion design workshop
Three Prairie High School students have their sites set on a big goal. They want to go into the fashion design business. Sienna Benton and Jami Riener have an opportunity to participate in a summer workshop, specially designed for high school students who are interested in fashion and marketing. Shandrie Poxleitner already attended last summer's workshops. 
The renowned Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM), which has four campuses in California, offers these workshops every summer for young people to get a taste of what the "design and merchandising" world is all about. FIDM is responsible for the fascinating costume designs in the movie "Star Wars Episode III, Revenge of the Sith." According to Shandrie, the workshop is a 3 day long event which includes actual classes in design and many other related activities. The participants also get to attend FIDM's annual "Fashion Debut" for the institute's senior scholarship winners. This, according to the DVD from FIDM, is truly a sophisticated "runway affair" with all the trimmings. Of course the girls wanting to go and actually making such a trip comes with its own set of hurdles. The largest of these is accumulating the necessary funds to pay for the workshop fee and the cost of travel. The girls have come up with some "creative" ways to help them towards this purpose. With the help of Prairie High School counselor, Lydia Deiss, and the "OK" from Principal Snodgrass, these three are organizing at least three fundraising events. The first of these events will actually take place in Clarkston at the Muddy Waters Coffee House. Arrangements have been made for a multi-band rock concert. The title of the event is "Project Insanity". Five different area bands have agreed to volunteer their time to help the young ladies out in their endeavors. Cottonwood's own local band "Debris" will be heading this musical line-up. The other bands are Faded, from Moscow, Tattered Soulle from Lewiston, Debt to Society from Lewiston and Awkward Silence from Orofino. To listen to samples of their music go to www.myspace.com. This concert is scheduled for February 24 from 8:00 pm - midnight. There is a $6.00 cover charge. Muddy Waters Coffee House is a non-alcohol establishment and is located at 839 6th Street in Clarkston. 
The second fundraising event is the "Miss Prairie Pageant". Numerous
local young ladies have expressed interest in contesting in this event.
Contestants must be current high school age students enrolled in public,
private or home school who reside within the Cottonwood School District
boundaries. The pageant is scheduled for Tuesday, March 13 starting at
7:00 pm. The girls are asking for a $5.00 admission donation at the
door. The event will be held in the Prairie High School cafeteria.
Girls interested in competing for the title of "Miss Prairie" need to register
at Prairie High School front office. If this event goes well there
might even be a "Mr. Prairie Pageant" scheduled.
The third event is, surprise, a fashion show titled "Fashion Avenue". The girls are currently working on numerous original designs, which will be modeled by a number of Prairie High School students. Designs will range from casual wear to formal gowns. Details for this event are not yet finalized and will be announced at a later date. If you are interested in knowing more about any of these events or just want to donate to the cause, either monetary or perhaps with prizes for the "Miss Prairie Pageant" please either leave a message at the high school, call Sienna at 791-6298 or email siennabenton@hotmail.com. |
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