A young man irons an in-progress project in the quilting class at Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center.
While jazz music plays in the background, a group of young men at Yvonne B. Miller High School, part of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice’s Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center, learn the art of quilting as they transform fabric into magnificent designs. But they learn so much more than that: During the process, the fabric of each student’s character is also transformed.
“Quilts tell a story,” says teacher Roy Mitchell Jr., a renowned self-taught quilter. “Piece by piece, we’re piecing lives together through quilts.”
Over the past eight years, Mitchell has taught the art of quilting to more than 200 residents of the Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center, and he was one of 18 metro Richmond teachers recently recognized by the Community Foundation and R.E.B. Foundation as a recipient of a 2020 R.E.B. Award for Teaching Excellence. Mitchell plans to use his cash award to learn more about kente cloth and the similarities in culture between African American and Hispanic students through travel to Ghana.
Teacher and self-taught quilter Roy Mitchell Jr.
Although quilting is often an art associated with women, Mitchell says that, historically, African American men worked with textiles and made significant contributions to this pursuit. The class not only teaches the skill of creating and constructing a quilt, the final exam also includes 280 questions about the history of quilting.
The class is so popular, students have to go through an interview process to be accepted. “You have to want to change to be in the class,” Mitchell says. “The students tell me, ‘Mr. Mitchell, you’re the father I never had.’ ”
Within the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, students are called by their last names, but not in Mitchell’s quilting class. “I identify each student by their first name, so students who are tired of being that lost young man know they’re a somebody in this classroom,” he says. “When a student knows they are loved, and when they know somebody cares and wants them to succeed, they know. The student is only [as] excited about the learning as the teacher is excited about the teaching, and I love what I do.”
The time it takes to make each quilt varies. One of the most time-consuming projects for the class, Mitchell says, was creating the flowering dogwood tree quilt that the students made for then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe a few years ago.
Sharp instruments such as needles and scissors, usually prohibited in correctional settings, are used create the quilts, but Mitchell says, “I’ve never had any incidents in my classroom. The secret is building trust and teaching them to believe in themselves.”
The students’ work is often displayed at the annual Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton. The young men attend the event, even dressing up in suits for the occasion.
Mitchell says attendees often remark on how professional the quilts look and are surprised to learn about the backgrounds of the students who created them. The recognition for their hard work elevates the students emotionally.
Mitchell himself became interested in quilting when he saw an exhibit at a fair years ago.
“I look at a quilt and see feeling,” he says.
For one memorable project, his students created quilts for the police departments that had arrested them. The quilts were beautiful, Mitchell says, and both the students and the officers were moved when the creations were presented.
“The police didn’t put you here,” he tells his students, encouraging the young men to make better choices for a more positive future. “It’s not where you’ve been, … it’s where you’re going.”
1 of 2
Students from a past quilting class with the dogwood-themed quilt they created for former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe
2 of 2
A student hand-stitches a border on his quilt square.
“The quilting program has taught me to be an architect, not only in the aspect of developing quilts, but with life overall, …. exposing me to virtues such as patience, diligence, respect, love and brotherhood,” says one of Mitchell’s students who was interviewed through a department liaison. “The quilt that is special to me is still being created. I see … morals in each piece, constituting a ‘well-put-together’ young man.”
Another student says Mitchell’s class helped him have more self-control. “In his class he teaches to be in control of yourself and having proper etiquette skills,” he says. “I would use profanity and have a short temper. That was my challenge I needed to overcome in life.”
Mitchell hopes to expand his teaching beyond Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center into the community, “to teach young people to be constructive instead of destructive,” he says.
He thinks about one young man he taught who was facing 38 years behind bars. Mitchell says he instructed the young man to make a quilt with a pyramid design. “You know why I had you make this?” he asked when the quilt was complete. “Because I want you to remember: The only person who can get on top is you,” he said, encouraging that student, who had always wanted to get a high school diploma, to make that dream come true.
Each year when the class ends, students write an exit letter sharing what they liked about the class. “Lots of letters break me down and make me cry,” Mitchell says. “But it’s tears of joy. I care, and they know I care. I want the best for them.”
Never miss a Sunday Story: Sign up for the newsletter, and we’ll drop a fresh read into your inbox at the start of each week. To keep up with the latest posts, search for the hashtag #SundayStory on Twitter and Facebook.
