The project was assigned to them under the direction of art teacher Roberta Tomaino. To motivate her students to become Halloween costume designers, Roberta brought in a special presentation on Oct. 7 about the history of art and clothing.

"I thought it was interesting to see what they wore back in the day," said seventh-grader Christopher Choi.

The activity was aided by annual guest speaker and art historian Bob Tomaino, Roberta's father. The father-daughter team came to school with an extensive collection of military attire, 1950s skirts, Napoleonic armor, 100-year-old cowboy chaps, a leopard-print vest from the 1960s, a wedding gown from 1893, Scottish tartans, medieval attire, garters, muskrat furs, purses and more.

"I liked the little Shirley Temple dresses," said Carolyn Crimi, a seventh-grader. "They were really cute."

"It's always fun when Mr. T [Bob Tomaino] comes, because it's history and art, so it's double the education," said seventh-grader Jacob Post, who remembered Roberta's father from previous visits to the school.

"The minute you tell a kid something is 100 years old, you get a gasp," Bob said. "It gets kids interested in history."

Roberta explained to the students from different grade levels throughout the day about the repetition of fashion throughout history and how styles and trends have changed over the years. The presentation included curriculum designed by Roberta.

"I hope they understand how art has influenced clothes and vice versa and how clothes come in cycles," she said.

The students were amazed by a school uniform worn by Roberta's grandmother around the time of World War I, which they learned had to be washed daily. The students at Sacred Heart, in comparison, own at least five sets of uniforms to wear to school every week.

As she held up a pirate-style romantic shirt with puffy, flowing sleeves, Roberta asked the children what they could relate it to in their lives. The students compared to it to Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, Mel Gibson in The Patriot, Ebenezer Scrooge and Austin Powers.

"Roberta is awesome. She's dynamic and extroverted and funky," said Shannon Breuckman, president of the school's parent-teachers activities group. "She seems to be able to relate to the kids. I think we're really fortunate to still have an art program when that seems to be getting cut from other schools."

As the students moved on to design their own costumes, Roberta said they can choose to create anything they want. They'll be generating layout boards with the details and sample fabrics of their costumes, as if they were in fashion school. Roberta started out majoring in fashion design at West Valley College and San José State University, so her expertise ties in perfectly. The students are graded on their behavior in art class, but not their artistic abilities.

"She seems to really love art and the kids," Breuckman said. "That could inspire one person in here to be a fashion designer."