A Poplar Bluff educator has built a legacy around reintroducing the practical arts she can recall learning back when she was a student in the district.
Candace Hovis, who teaches Family and Consumer Sciences, will lead a new sewing elective at PBHS next school year. She previously initiated the construction of a chicken coop at Lake Road Elementary a decade ago, when she taught in the lower grade span.
“Some of my most meaningful memories as a student in Poplar Bluff Schools came from hands-on, practical learning experiences, whether it was visiting the chickens hatching in elementary school or sewing a complete outfit in Junior High,” Hovis remembered. “I even still have the quilt I made in High School.”
Last year, the Board of Education approved a 50/50 matching grant request for 15 heavy-duty sewing machines under the federal Perkins Act, available annually to career and technical education programs.
To further help get the class started, substitute teacher Donna Woods orchestrated the donation of a lifetime’s worth of fabric, buttons, zippers and bindings in memory of her friend, Leta Banther, who lost her battle with cancer in November.
According to Woods, the late Banther sewed over 100 quilts for Sleep in Heavenly Peace and would have "loved to donate to the kids." The sub has worked with Banther’s surviving husband, James, to go through her friend’s “own little private Hobby Lobby” over the past several weeks.
Woods additionally collaborated with Agee Church to purchase four shelving units and 30 totes for Hovis’ classroom space. While having attended school in St. Louis, Woods also can recollect learning to sew, beginning with a pillowcase, then a coat hanger and lastly pajama pants.
“In my era, everyone took shop and woodworking, and physical skilled classes more than bookwork,” Woods shared. “What’s good or bad; I don’t know.”
Hovis initially incorporated a sewing lesson into the end of her senior survival elective this year. For the 2026/27 school year, she has received administrative approval to teach a semester-long dedicated sewing class that will follow colleague Julie Littles’ fashion design and merchandising prerequisite.
“I enjoyed these classes as a student here 20 years ago, and they left a lasting impact on me,” said Hovis, noting that she has had the unique experience of teaching some of her former elementary students as seniors now. "Being able to reconnect with them and provide these experiences at a different stage in their lives makes this work even more rewarding."
###
Cutline: FACS instructor Candace Hovis (forefront) stands beside a donation of shelving units and materials arranged by substitute teacher Donna Woods (back) for the new sewing elective to be offered at PBHS next year.