Oscar Chi, left, and Rita Wang both work on the ornaments Oct. 27 at Slade Elementary School. Slade art teacher Paige Gustafson and her students are representing Wyoming at the National Christmas Tree lighting in Washington, D.C., by creating ornaments representative of the state.
Oscar Chi, left, and Rita Wang both work on the ornaments Oct. 27 at Slade Elementary School. Slade art teacher Paige Gustafson and her students are representing Wyoming at the National Christmas Tree lighting in Washington, D.C., by creating ornaments representative of the state.
SHANNON BRODERICK/Boomerang photographer
Patrick Nguyen works on his ornament Oct. 27 at Slade Elementary School.
Ornaments created by 12 students from Albany County School District No. 1 will represent the state of Wyoming this week at a national Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Selected students in grades 3-5 designed Wyoming-themed ornaments with leather and acrylic paints, each featuring a different animal native to the state. The artwork will hang from one of 56 trees at the ceremony, each representing a U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia, from Dec. 1-Jan. 1 as part of the America Celebrates display.
Paige Gustafson, Slade Elementary School art teacher, said she was contacted by the Wyoming Arts Council several months ago about having her students participate in the program.
“I chose students that really enjoy art and that have an aptitude for it to be a part of this program,” she said.
A dozen students from Slade and Centennial Elementary schools — Mason Aragon, Oscar Chi, Amber Daugherty, Grace Gapter, Andres Gasca, Morgan Moore, A.J. Mora, Patrick Nguyen, Trinity Sandoval, Grace Sanford, Jackie Skinner and Rita Wang — contributed to the project. The students spent about four hours after school working on the ornaments, Gustafson said.
“The theme that I wanted to do was just to capture Wyoming, and so that’s why we did the yellow prairie and the bright blue skies and the mountains, and then I had them each choose a Wyoming native animal.” she said. “And they did them all themselves, all freehand, and I’m very, very proud of them.”
The National Christmas Tree Lighting, an event presented by the National Park Service and National Park Foundation, dates back to 1923, when U.S. President Calvin Coolidge lit a tree in the Ellipse, a park in Washington, D.C., according to a news release from the National Park Service. Throughout the years, each successive president has continued the tradition, and Thursday’s celebration marks the 94th year of the event.
A.J. Mora and Grace Sanford, the only two third-graders to participate in the project, said they selected an eagle and a rainbow trout, respectively, for their ornaments.
“I chose an eagle because it represents our school — Slade eagles — and also because my dad loves eagles,” Mora said, adding he and his fellow students created the ornaments by drawing the animal designs on a sheet of paper and painting the background.
Grace said she created a trout because she was “kind of a country girl” and it reminded her of fishing with her father.
“I enjoy art because sometimes when I just look at it, I see bright colors, dark colors and then sometimes it just all blends in,” she said.
Both students said they were excited about having their work showcased on the tree at the ceremony.
“My favorite part was that you get to make the background with clouds and the sky and the Rocky Mountains — and the plains,” Grace said.
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