The family and consumer sciences classroom at Dean Morgan Junior High is all hustle and bustle. Students flock to teacher Patty Johnson, fabric in hand, wanting to know how to sew in a zipper or the proper way to pin together a project.

"Welcome to chaos," Johnson said with a laugh.

Johnson was recently named a recipient of the National Association of Teachers of Family and Consumer Sciences Distinguished Award. She'll accept her award in North Carolina on Dec. 5.

"She's nice and she's helpful," said sixth-grader Michael Li.

"She's very enthusiastic and always has something new in class each day," added fellow sixth-grader Kayla Cimburek. "She's gives very good instructions."

Johnson began teaching in 1972, and has been at Dean Morgan for the past 20 years. Dean Morgan is the last junior high program to offer elective sewing classes for students.

The changes to family and consumer sciences during her teaching career have been interesting for Johnson to watch.

"I started at Kelly Walsh when there were cows across the street," Johnson said. "When I started, girls took home ec, and boys took shop, and we didn't mix."

Classes are different now, Johnson said. Looking around her classroom, it's an equal mix of boys and girls sitting at sewing machines.

"Some of these boys are just phenomenal," she said. "These boys aren't inhibited."

Many students come to Johnson's class thinking they aren't capable of sewing or learning other life skills. But students are always tickled when they finish their projects, Johnson said.

"It just proves to them they can do things," she said. "They're not a little kid anymore. They're in the process of becoming something."

Reach education reporter Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at Jasa.Santos@trib.com. Read her blog at my.trib.com/jasasantos.