American Academy of Innovation students are “Saving the World — One Sheep at a Time.”

In an intensive, hands-on course, 12 freshmen and sophomores are experiencing hands-on, real-world applications while earning credit in biology, art and English meeting with their instructor all day, twice per week.

AAI intensive courses offer students an alternate, accelerated pathway to learning, said Mia Prazen, AAI director of operations.

“While the overarching purpose of an intensive course is for students to achieve more in a shorter amount of time, these courses also align with our AAI vision, mission and guiding principles,” she said.

Currently, AAI is offering three other intensive courses: “Big History Project,” “Wellness 101: Developing Healthy Habits” and “Rock Band.”

Through “Saving the World, One Sheep at a Time,” students learn the history and culture of fiber arts, the importance of making wise consumer choices and their responsibility in caring for the earth as global citizens, said instructor Cayenne DaBell, who normally teaches math and special education.

The interdisciplinary semester course integrates climate change, sheep husbandry, photosynthesis, cell respiration, ecosystems and other topics within biology.

Art is tied into the sheep’s wool.

“We have a fleece I bought locally (from Notlwonk Springs farm) on the Utah Idaho border in Cornish, Utah, and we washed it on the first day of school. We’ve carded the wool, trying to get it open and fluffy,” DaBell said. “We’re starting to spin it into yarn on my spinning wheel.”

Students then will dye the yarn.

“We’re going to try solar dyeing. We’ll steam and dye. The kids are excited to try that,” she said, adding that they’ll discuss plant anatomy and kinds of plants used in natural dying.

Then, students will work to make projects, including perhaps, a large wall hanging or blanket they can make together, DaBell said, adding that the class project may be sold in the school’s boutique, which could bring economics into the course.

As students pick their projects, they’ll learn about the yarn thickness, tightness of the weave and the overall design.

“What I really want them to learn is a better understanding of where textiles come from, and the cultural impact it has and the environmental impact,” she said. “Look at clothing; it has had and there’s still a lot of people now that are being exploited in the textile industry. We can look at the need of a new wardrobe for every season versus making things last longer and that they have responsibilities and choices.”

Part of that study is incorporated through the language arts portion of the course as students are reading the book, “Worn: A People’s History of Clothing” by Sofi Thanhauser. 

“She’s an advocate for women’s rights and she talks a lot about how women and children especially were exploited through history. The book covers linen, silk, cotton, wool and synthetics. So, we’re going to create a timeline of different fibers and talk about their impact, both culturally and economically and environmentally. Then, they’ll pick one event in that timeline to write a report about it and present it to sixth-graders.”

The course is being team-taught with language arts teacher Cherie Koenig, who joined the students on their recent fieldtrip to the state fair where they learned to identify and differentiate breeds and learn about the history and impact of sheep. 

“Cherie has done some crafting, but she mostly has picked up spinning so she can help students. She also goes over vocabulary specific to the field and helps with the essay they’re writing about a fiber type,” DaBell said.

DaBell has been teaching students how to crochet, weave, embroider, knit, tat, make lacework and other handiwork.

“I’m showing them anything they’re interested in doing. For another project, each of them will pick a country or a culture that they’re interested in and learn about their fiber arts, and then make something from that culture and it will tie in that history and tradition as well,” she said.

Before they left the state fair, they saw a bobbin lace demonstration by Judy Gunn, owner of Judy’s Novelty Wool, whom DaBell knows.

DaBell learned to spin as a young mother.

“I had gone from working in a plant genetics lab at the University of Utah to sitting at home with little kids, so I picked up knitting to have something to do at home and keep my brain engaged. I was mostly knitting with acrylic yarns, and I wanted to learn how to make sweaters with nicer wool yarns, but wool was more expensive. I found out that if I went and bought a fleece from a farmer, and did all the work myself, I could get the yarn for a quarter of the price. That got me started. I made my own wool yarn to save money and I ended up joining the spinning guild and have gone to fiber festivals and took a deep dive into it,” she said. “There’s a joke among fiber community people that once you get started on this road, suddenly you find yourself with a herd of sheep. I am not to that point. I don’t know that I ever will be, but I do think it’s pretty cool.”

It was that passion and enthusiasm of the fiber arts and her love of science she could combine when it came time to propose intensive courses last spring. 

She has brought her own equipment to school and purchased some drop spindles from a Provo-based company, Greensleeves, for the students to use. 

“I have kids who ask, ‘Can I spin?’ I tell them, ‘Don’t even ask, you can do it anytime.’ It’s been fun to watch them get excited about this,” she said.

This fall, the students also will visit Bergstrom Farms in Bluffdale to learn about Icelandic sheep, alpacas and mohair goats.

“They’ll see locally on a small scale how to raise fiber animals and see how they’ve been developing indigo dye. We’re also going to Antelope Island to learn about sheep ranching (at Fielding Garr ranch) and go on a wetland walk and I’ll talk about climate and ecology,” she said.

Having students learn about the impact they’re making environmentally is important to DaBell.

“When I started biology, my emphasis was in ecology and environment science and that’s one of the things I love about wool is that it’s environmentally friendly. It’s biodegradable; it’s renewable. I love I can take it from the actual source and being able to turn it into clothing that I can wear, or I can give to other people,” she said. “It’s important for students to be both environmentally aware and globally aware and realize the decisions they make affect people. I want to empower students to make informed choices, to develop an awareness of other people and to understand that their choices impact the world. Even though it doesn’t seem one person has that much of an effect, when it’s all added up, it has a huge effect.”