Inside the Practicum in Fashion Design class, students spend their days cutting fabric and sewing seams, but what you may not know is that they also manage deadlines, budgets, and decisions that have nothing to do with a needle and thread.

Students on the Fashion Design track start as freshmen in Introduction to Communication Arts and Media, then move into Fashion Design I and II, where they build a foundation in garment construction, textile selection, and trend forecasting using the same equipment and tools used in the fashion industry. By senior year, they've reached the program's capstone course, the Practicum, where the goal is to produce a full clothing line and help stage a fashion show by the end of the year.

Every Prosper ISD high school offers a Fashion Design program, and rather than work separately, students from all four campuses come together each year for one districtwide fashion show. This year's theme, “Inspired,” will showcase what Fashion Design II and Practicum students from every high school have built over the course of the year. 

For Richland High School senior Jonnie Owens, design work is only part of what she's picked up along the way.

"This class takes up a lot of time, so I've definitely learned time management," Owens said. "Also considering things like who my target audience is, your cost, and what purpose [your product] serves."

Weighing audience, cost, and purpose is business thinking as much as it is design, the same kind of decision-making behind marketing, retail, and running a business.

For students who plan to continue in fashion after graduation, their experience with industry-level equipment means they're not starting from scratch after they leave the classroom. They've already learned how to use the tools they need to succeed, giving them a head start into a career in the fashion industry.

Students in the Fashion Design track walk away having built something tangible, but they also know how to manage a project, think creatively under a deadline, collaborate as part of a team, and adapt quickly under pressure – skills that hold up in whatever comes next. 

Prosper ISD is committed to making sure every student graduates with that kind of readiness, whatever path they choose.