Ms. Polanco, who runs a business out of her Bailey Avenue home, has students begin by using designs in magazines and books. Students learn to use needles with wide eyes to stitch beads into colorful rings, earrings, bracelets, anklets and necklaces. Graduates showcased pieces with pendants, bracelets made of beaded flowers stitched together and chokers.

“They learn how to do high-level, sophisticated things,” Ms. Polanco said in Spanish. “They leave prepared enough to have their own business.” 

Antonia Tavarez, a parent of an IN-Tech eighth-grader, said she plans to continue making jewelry and begin selling her accessories online.

“For Mother’s Day I sold a lot of things,” she said. “I was new and she taught me the way to do everything.”

Marisol Diaz contributed reporting. 

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