Standing in front of her class of predominately females, Julie Rice,  family and consumer science (FACS) teacher, points to examples of floor plans she has placed on the board. This is her Introduction to Design class, and after two years without it, Rice is finally able to stand in front of eager design students again.

“The class was taken out for two years. It was necessary because the other departments needed smaller classes and wanted to hire part-time teachers, so they needed budget cuts,” Rice said. “So we had to get smaller in other areas.” 

Before the cut was made, Rice made sure the class would come back, but with minor changes. Instead of a two-semester course, it is now only a semester course with a quarter focusing on interior and fashion design.

“The class used to be a whole separate class for interior design and fashion design. It was like that since I started teaching here in 1999,” Rice said. “I had taught the class before and wanted it back, so I talked to the ASC (Administrative Office) and worked with them. Over six months we came up with a five-year plan for courses, and it got approved.”

During the two years Rice was not teaching this class, Rice still planned improvements for the class.

“Besides being one-semester long class instead of two separate semesters, we have all new software,” Rice said. “Before we used a black and white program for fashion design, and now it is in full color. And for interior, we used a Bob Villa program, and it was horrible. Now we use a program called Punch which is a lot better.”

Even after fighting to get the course back, Rice still wants to further improve the class.

“I would like to add a follow up semester course for each area [fashion and interior]. That way students would have more background and decide what pathway they really want to go down,” Rice said. “We can get more done in a semester that way.”

Improvements on the class are also necessary for the class to run more smoothly.

“I am looking forward to a new computer lab,” Rice said. “The old ones are adding a degree of difficulty.”

Expanding the class would benefit Rice’s students like Isabel Campbell, freshman, who plans to major in fashion design after she graduates.

“I really like fashion, and I thought [the class] would help me in college,” Campbell said. “[The class] is a great preview.”

In order to further expand the class, Rice needs as many students to take Intro to Design as possible. She believes the class is beneficial not only to design students, but to all students.

“[I recommend this to students] because it helps choose a career pathway for many students, and if they are not interested in having a career in this, it’s a life skill,” Rice said. “Eventually, everyone will be designing their homes, so everyone can use this. And it’s a way to express creativity.”