LIVERMORE — It’s 5 o’clock on an autumn afternoon, and the 25 children perched on stools in the art classroom are intensely focused — not on electronic devices, but on the crochet hooks they’re holding and the balls of colorful yarn that spill over the tables in front of them. It’s crochet day at the Believe program at Junction Avenue K-8 School in Livermore, and that means an hour of happy chitchat and quiet learning.
Operated jointly by the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District and the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District, Believe is an after-school enrichment program providing 85 first-through-fifth-graders with extra instruction in reading, math and language arts. The idea to incorporate a needlecraft class began last year, when Livermore resident Alicia Calonico, the founder and director of the Livermore-based Hispanic Heritage Center, wanted to offer the children a glimpse of their cultural roots.
“I wanted the kids to learn this,” she said. “Many of their moms did this when they were young, learning from their moms and their grandmothers. It’s passed from generation to generation even nowadays, especially in small towns.”
Originally conceived as a small class for perhaps 10 children, Calonico was bowled over by the response.
“When the class started, 30 girls showed up,” she said. “I thought ‘What are we going to do?’”
Calonico and a couple other volunteers kept the class afloat that year. This school year, demand for crocheting remains higher than resources allow, said Believe teacher Rosalba Vazquez, who leads the class at Junction Avenue.
“Everybody wants to do it,” Vazquez said. “I have 25 children who (are doing it), and more who also want to, but can’t because we don’t have the staff or materials. There are both boys and girls.”
The children are learning to crochet simple chains and squares, which eventually will be combined into a quilt with the classmates’ photo in the center. Even this simple project requires them to read, follow directions, use math and focus on hand-eye coordination. It also teaches them an aspect of their cultural heritage, said Carla Estrada, one of Believe’s co-coordinators.
“In part a lot of our students have a Hispanic background, and this is still a very live hobby, done especially among grandmothers and mothers,” she said. “If the children see it in their own culture, they have a tendency to want to participate in it as well.”
Vazquez agreed, recalling a childhood filled with gatherings centered around needlework.
“I think it’s in our blood,” she said. “Every afternoon, especially in small towns, after a big dinner they put everything away and we take our chairs outside the house and do the crochet … grandmas, moms, tias (aunts) and neighbors.”
For now, Vazquez oversees the instruction, aided only by Calonico and aide Anna Maria Sanchez, both of whom volunteer their time when possible. Most of the materials are donated by the staff and some parents, but more is needed, as are community volunteers willing to share their skills with the children for an hour a week. The youngsters supply the enthusiasm.
“I like to do this,” said 7-year-old Jaqueline Cortez Rodriguez, who was slowly crocheting a small chain. “This is my first time doing this. I do it sometimes with my mom; she’s making a blanket and she’s showing me how to help her.”
Nearby, 9-year-old Sebastian Castro, one of three boys in the class, bent his head over his project.
“I want to make socks, scarves and mittens,” he said, detangling his steel-gray yarn. “It’s hard, but at the same time it’s fun because you make stuff.”
Vazquez moves about the room, adjusting a little hand here and a crochet needle there.
“I don’t have enough words to say how great I feel when I see them doing this,” she said. “Seeing them start something and finish it. When they see the progress, they feel good and they want to keep doing it.”
At one of the big wooden tables, 10-year-old Scarlet Castro was busily crocheting with bubble-gum pink yarn.
“I’ve liked to do this since I was 6 years old,” she said matter-of-factly. “My grandma taught me, and then I taught my mom. We make blankets, scarves and hats. For my little cousin’s doll we make little shirts. But my little brother never lets me concentrate.
She smiled and held up her work.
“You have to pay attention,” she said. “And don’t leave it.”
to help
The crochet class, part of the Believe program at Junction Avenue K-8 School in Livermore, is in need of crochet needles and yarn, as well as community volunteers to help teach basic crochet. The class meets at 5 p.m. Thursday at the school. To donate materials or volunteer, call the Believe office at 925-606-5209.
