Current Release: April 28th, 2009 | Vol. XXX Iss. 10

Photo by Megan See

Bead it

By Olivia Phillips

olphillips@vwc.edu

Colors ranging from golden browns to sparkling blues catch the eyes of students as they stand in line at the VWC Bookstore. These colors come from a small but dazzling display of handcrafted jewelry made by Katherine Degner, an 11- year-old home-schooled student.

 I just picked up stray beads and just started doing it, she said.

Katherine had not been making jewelry very long before she asked to sell it in the campus bookstore on consignment. She and a couple of her friends had been waiting in the Scribner bookstore to be picked up from swim practice when Katherine decided to show some of her jewelry to Renate Thurman, the bookstore manager.

 She did the whole thing on her own, said Cindy Degner, Katherine s mother.  The only thing I do is drive her.

Katherine has since made a name for her business, calling it KNDesigns after her initials. She even has her own business card and plans to expand her business horizons to possibly include other local gift stores and places like the Children s Hospital of the King s Daughters.

 I think it s great, said Cindy.  She s always had an entrepreneurial spirit.

In fact, a good bit of the money she makes from the jewelry, she puts right back into it by buying even more beads for her next big creation.

Katherine uses all different kinds and colors of beads and either an elastic or plastic coated wire for the framework. She has also created several custom orders for family, friends, and Virginia Wesleyan coaches. In addition to custom orders, she has made themed jewelry for holidays and even  I Love VWC themed pieces.

Cindy is very supportive of her daughter s business. While she never does any of the actual work, Katherine often asks her opinion of her pieces.

 She always brings me in, said Cindy.  She ll have all her beads out playing with it.

Katherine has great enthusiasm for the jewelry she creates and wants to make sure that everyone is just as happy with it as she is. It usually takes her 15 minutes to make each piece, and one usually sells every couple of weeks. Katherine has not had a single complaint from any of her customers.

 She s really into it, said Thurman.  If something broke, she d take it back and fix it.

However, jewelry is not Katherine s only passion; her real passion is swimming.

She started swimming at the age of 5 when her mother was giving lessons. She became curious to learn, too. Since then Katherine has been actively involved in competitive swim meets and practices with her team, the Tidewater Aquatic Club, on the Virginia Wesleyan campus throughout the week. When asked what she loved about swimming, Katherine answered:

 Just the sport. You can t really hurt yourself. It s friendly competition. Katherine usually enters the 200-freestyle and 500- freestyle; in fact, she broke a five-year meet record in the 500-freestyle recently.

In addition to jewelry and swimming, Katherine also participates in other activities such as piano and ballet. But most importantly, she has a desire to give back to others.

She is currently giving to an organization known as the Heifer Project International. This organization helps teach people across the world things they need to know to take care of themselves and improve their lives, such as agriculture and livestock management. It is through donations from people like Katherine that the organization is able to buy livestock for impoverished people to own so that they can ward off hunger and poverty.

But her giving does not stop there. Katherine also donates to children s hospitals and other similar foundations.

 She has a very giving spirit, said Cindy.

Katherine does not have any definite plans for a career yet, but she said she would like to possibly major in business once she gets out of high school. She sees a business major as an open door to many different opportunities, but this 11-year-old entrepreneur believes that after high school she would like to keep her own business in the jewelry industry as a hobby.

 Just for fun and presents, said Katherine.