Kara Cole's elementary sewing program earns her recognition as Granite Stater of Month in March

FRANKLIN — Kara Cole, of Plymouth, library media specialist in the Franklin School District, is Granite Stater of the Month for March 2026. 

Cole was selected by Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) for the honor to recognize her contributions to the lives of children by teaching them to sew.

Four years ago, Cole endeavored to share her passion for the craft with students in Franklin and, alongside library assistant Cassie Easter, Cole created a program to teach the elementary students at the Paul Smith School how to sew. Cole said Tuesday she hopes to foster creativity, and instill a sense of the importance of sustainability in her students.

Through the program, Cole has helped hundreds of students learn how to sew. This year, with the assistance of local donations, Cole helped her students sew pillowcases and was able to ensure that each student had a pillow to put inside of their pillowcase.

Chase comes from a long line of fiber artists — her grandmother owned a quilt store and her mother was handy, too. She had the privilege of learning to sew in school as a youth. Sewing is in her bones, and she thinks the skill can teach students lessons that extend far beyond the spool.

“I grew up knowing my way around a sewing machine, and a needle and a thread,” she said. 

When Cole helped move her mother out of her house, she found lots of sewing materials, and the idea to instruct children between kindergarten and fourth grade in the art of sewing was born. Doing so can benefit children in many ways, Cole said: it helps them learn perseverance, develop fine motor skills and appreciate entrepreneurship and sustainability. 

“I always tie my lessons into some kind of literature,” she said. 

And those lessons may be particularly impactful in and around Franklin. 

“This is a very low-income area,” Cole said.

This year, Cole received assistance from Friends of Forgotten Children. That organization donated around 150 bolts of fabric to the cause, she said.

“I decided I wanted to make pillowcases,” she said. 

“Everybody should have a soft place to lay their head and feel like they have a safe place to be at night,” Cole said.

But that is easier said than done, it appears. At one point, Cole asked a class of children how many of them had a pillow they’d be able to put inside the finished pillowcases.

“Less than half the kids raised their hands,” she said.

The congregation at Trinity Episcopal Church, in Meredith, lent another assist, donating the funds for more than 200 pillows toward the project.

“We spent three weeks sewing the pillows,” she said. They met once a week for 50 minutes. “Every kid, 280 kids, each made a pillowcase.

“It was awesome.”

When Hassan’s staff reached out to Cole, she said she was surprised. 

“It made me start to cry, it was very emotional, knowing that you’ve made a difference,” she said. 

And now, the difference Cole made is enshrined for eternity in the Congressional Record, thanks to statements made by Hassan:

“I am honored to recognize Kara Cole of Plymouth as March’s Granite Stater of the Month. Kara created a program to teach elementary school students the lifelong skill of sewing,” the statement reads.

“After Kara realized four years ago that many of the students she worked with as a library media specialist for the Franklin School District didn’t know how to sew, she decided to roll up her sleeves and change that,” the statement continues. “Kara went above and beyond her responsibilities and, alongside Cassie Easter, a library assistant in the district, Kara created a program to teach elementary students at the Paul Smith School in Franklin how to sew.”