Alec Piepergerdes at the 2026 WHS National Honor Society graduation ceremony.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
HAVERHILL — As part of the public opening for the new Historic New England Center in Haverhill, scholarships were awarded to students from across the commonwealth for their winning footwear designs in the Heart + Sole Teen Shoe Design Competition.
The event coincided with the ribbon-cutting for the center and a historical shoe exhibit celebrating the city’s industrial past.
The Heart + Sole competition invited juniors and seniors from Massachusetts’ 26 Gateway Cities — midsize urban centers that historically served as economic engines for the state’s manufacturing industries — to explore contemporary social issues through footwear design and to use footwear as a medium for storytelling. Across two categories, High Fashion Shoe and Sneaker, participants submitted thoughtful and imaginative designs addressing topics such as mental health, environmental stewardship, affordable housing, kindness, resilience, and inclusion, organizers said.
Westfield High School 2026 graduate Alec Piepergerdes was one of two grand prize recipients of a $10,000 scholarship for winning in the Sneaker category.
Piepergerdes’ sneaker design was intended to help children release stress or improve their focus in school. “I wanted to prioritize those with early signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder, a cause to which I have grown connected,” he said in his submission to the contest.
He began contemplating sensory tools and chose to use small circular squishies on each sneaker. “I chose squishies because I knew parents would not buy a shoe with fidget spinner feet or laces that could stretch and twist all over, and because squishies help emotional regulation, tactical simulation, and keep the hands busy to improve focus [something with which kids with ASD tend to struggle],” Piepergerdes wrote.
To decide each squishy’s placement, he pretended as if he were a kid. “I jumped around and sat crisscross apple sauce. I noticed that in this arrangement, my hands fell to my ankles and laces. This made Velcro a perfect spot for squishies, right where a kid could use them while listening from the carpet. The other location I chose was the upper heel, best for a child seated at a desk. They can easily bend one leg backwards, keep their toes on the ground, and reach the squishy, all while drawing with the other hand.”
Piepergerdes said he first learned about the Heart + Sole competition from his WHS art teacher, Karen Kane, who pushed him to complete it.
“I was inspired to support those with ASD because last March. I did an online internship with Let’s Talk About It — The Autism Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. My job was to work with a group to create a social media campaign that could spread awareness, educate and pull people towards the Center. To make the posts, I learned a lot about autism and realized that I enjoyed using design in such a positive manner. Before then, I never thought I could help make the world more understanding through what I create,” Piepergerdes said.
He had been waiting for a similar opportunity as the one he experienced in North Carolina until he found the Heart + Sole competition. “I knew I could use what I learned about autism and what I have learned from my experience with kids to create a shoe that could assist with the little things they struggle with,” he said.
Over the summers, Piepergerdes worked with Parks & Recreation in camps for kids and through the National Honor Society at WHS, and participated in reading to students at Westfield River Elementary School and in other elementary school events. “I always enjoy it when I get the opportunity to help kids or work with them,” he said.
This fall, he will attend North Carolina State University to study graphic and experience design.
The Heart + Sole competition was judged by acclaimed footwear designer Stuart Weitzman, who grew up apprenticing under his father Seymour Weitzman at the Mr. Seymour shoe factory in Haverhill, and Olympic gold medalist and activist Aly Raisman. The judges selected three finalists in each category based on creativity, concept and execution. Two grand-prize winners were chosen to receive $10,000 scholarships, and the remaining four finalists received $1,000 scholarships at the June 27 opening of the Historic New England Center. Unable to attend the ceremony, Alec’s mother, Maria Piepergerdes, received the award in his place.
The Heart + Sole competition coincided with the first exhibit in the new Historic New England Center, “Shoe Stories: Past, Present and Future.” Haverhill, known as the Queen Slipper City, once produced tens of millions of pairs of shoes a year. An important part of the shoe industry, both regionally and nationally, Haverhill’s history is intrinsically linked to footwear.
The exhibit explores over 400 years of shoemaking, design and life in New England and spotlights the history of Haverhill and the distinctive part Historic New England’s Burgess and Lang buildings play in the city’s narrative. Using objects, photographs, and ephemera, along with oral histories and digital storytelling, the exhibition takes an expansive approach to the history and the future of footwear.
Shoe Stories also emphasizes the work and histories of makers of color, contemporary New England designers, Indigenous artisans, the sustainable future of footwear and the global impact of the sneaker.
For more information on the Historic New England Center in Haverhill and its shoemaking past, go to haverhillcenter.org.
