Consumer To Producer: Sneaker Creation

With summer at it’s finest and with so many things for kids to do, their were kids who decided to put all of that to the side. For two weeks students participated in the Generation Outreach Program where they were introduced to our newest program “Sneaker Creation”. This program allowed them to experience Crispen Shoemaker which is an industry leading software provided by Autodesk. Students learned how to operate the software and design their own custom sneaker. We put the students in groups of two and they learned how to work on a project  as a team. Once everyone had their designs completed we all voted on who’s sneaker had the best design, who had the best presentation and who showed the most originality. The votes were extremely close and the winner actually won by one vote. Now that a winner has been selected the ultimate reward is on it’s way!! In the Sneaker Creation Program the incentive to do your best is knowing you have a chance for your sneaker to be manufactured. Each student will now be receiving a pair of sneakers designed by the winner. So they actually walk away from this program with a product in hand

 

 

 

“This has been an unbelievable experience and it’s made them realize that it’s possible for them to start a business in this industry and make a good amount of money”

“I wish I could do this everyday or I wish that this could be in my school”

This program is very unique and unheard of. I mean  kids get a chance to design their own sneaker and have their sneaker be manufactured. What we’re doing essentially is telling these kids that you know no longer need to spend $200 on a pair of Jordan’s, you can take the same amount of money and start investing in yourself and start creating your own brand of sneakers and selling your own brand of sneakers. It’s a whole new mindset for the students. Once we break down the numbers for them and show them that “sneaker heads” spend over time $5,000 on sneakers that will eventually wear and tear and be out of date and useless; and that they can take that same amount of money over time investment in themselves and build something that’s going to continue to make them money. They begin to look at their purchases different, they begin to go from Consumer to Producer.

 

But it starts now, it starts when they’re in middle school, it starts when they’re and high school. These are the types of programs that the Rochester City School District needs to incorporate into their learning curriculum. Students from the Generation Outreach program where so invested into they’re sneaker design that even when the program was over one student who wasn’t completely satisfied with her design came in the following week and continue to work on her project. Students have said that “this has been an unbelievable experience and it’s made them realize that it’s possible for them to start a business in this industry and make a good amount of money”. Students have also said that “they wish they can do this everyday or they wish that this can be in there school”. It doesn’t have to be just after school program it can be a part of their curriculum on a daily basis. We only had two weeks with these students, within those two weeks they were able to learn how to operate professional software, put their creative design to good use and come out with a finish product. Not only that, they were able to come out with a new mindset. If students are able to do this in two weeks imagine what can be done in a whole school year? Or imagine what can be done in four years of high school with them going through programs similar to this one. Students will be equipped for business a career or college by the time they leave high school. Generation Outreach and its staff had an amazing time hosting this program. We would like to thank Hillside Work Scholarship for partnering with us this summer and making the Sneaker Creation program a reality. We look forward to doing more work with Hillside Work Scholarship and inspiring the next generation.