Teacher Chris Hunt Turns William Smith High School Students into Sneaker Designers: From Classroom to Career”.

In Aurora, William Smith High School students are learning how to design, punch and sew their own custom pair of Nikes under the watchful eye of teacher Chris Hunt. Each student is given the opportunity to create their own unique pair of Nike Dunks, with many choosing to make them for friends or family members.

Hunt’s goal for the class is to teach students valuable skills that they can use beyond the classroom. “My thought in the class was, it’s cool to get shoes, but what do you do when you get stuck on something? How do you fix it?” he says. “My idea is to give them the ability to not rely on other people as much.”

The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York took notice of the class and invited Hunt and the students to tour the institute and walk through its halls, which were once home to notable designers like Calvin Klein and Michael Kors. For Hunt, this was a dream come true. “I really want to see there’s a future beyond this class,” he said. “There’s entire jobs and careers.”