CLEVELAND — An Ohio educator is making it her mission to help our children use their creative minds to learn. And there's a key piece to all of it - Felt.
“It's an MO of mine, I have nothing but I come up with something,” said Rahamel Hughes, founder of Felt Smart.
It all started in 2009 - Hughes had a desire to help children learn through a fun-felt experience.
She had a dream - find a medium and change the world. And the idea of felt - just felt right!
“With felt, I was able to afford it ...it was like 10 cents a piece,” she recalled. “I'm able to manipulate in a certain way that it looks expensive, and I can make costumes, education materials and kids can create with it.”
And she created workshops - serving local schools, daycares, community centers and churches. Using felt, children create stories, dress up, act and dance in musical plays, learn to read and express themselves.
“What's important is the children feeling good in a time where mental health is so important in addition to education being just as important,” Hughes said. “You can't stop mental health and you can't stop mental health to do education, you need to bridge the two.”
She wants children to express themselves. With Felt Smart - kids can't do anything wrong.
“Children can't make mistakes and it's still beautiful and fun and you can't do anything wrong when you're using your imagination and creating and navigating education in a fun way.”
And many before her have inspired her to work hard, to dream...to do...
“I have what my two hands can make, I have my passion and I have the desire to want to make a difference. I can connect with MLK because he did that and he did it in a way where people respected,” she said.
And on Martin Luther King Jr. day and everyday - Hughes continues to have that dream - to help children learn and love themselves along the way.
“I feel like this is my purpose, I could actually even cry. To be able to give kids back their childhood is amazing.”