When I was growing up, I was fortunate to have experienced home economics and shop class. Both were a standard part of middle school curriculum. I loved both. Well, I loved the sewing part of home-ec, as we called it. Growing up we didn’t have money to spare for luxury items like the latest (and questionable) fashion fad of platform shoes with multi-colored stripes along the wedge heels. Being the eldest child didn’t help; there were no clothes to share or hand-me-downs. It’s awful when kids make fun of you if you don’t have the ‘latest’ when it is the latest. Home-ec would be the door to help change that…