CRESTVIEW — Walker Elementary School’s main hallway features students’ masterpieces for the first Spring Art Show. The school has been decorating the halls to celebrate art teacher Sarah Harris’s arrival.
Drawings and paintings from each teacher's class appear in the main hallway and in a portion of the school's media center, which facilitated a family night for a book fair.
The displays impressed second-grader Miranda Everhart, 7, who was attending the art show and book fair with her father, Tad.
"I like the drawing and coloring; I like all of it," Miranda said, adding she looks forward to painting more.
Her father said he supports the arts program.
"It gives (students) a break from all of the math and science," he said. "It also helps with their imagination."
He’s not alone in his support.
"Many (parents) have said that they felt that their children were artists and they never got to participate in the visual arts," principal Jeanine Kirkland. "This has been a wonderful beginning for us and we want to keep it going."
The school introduced the art program at the beginning of this school year, following Harris’s hiring.
Harris teaches a class from each grade level for 40 minutes a week.
"We cover the whole art spectrum (including) drawing, coloring and painting," she said.
Some of the classes have started working with papier-mché. Recently, all eight kindergarten classes collaborated to create a large pairing of papier-mchéhearts displayed at the show.
Parents have donated recycled items, including egg cartons and discarded paper towel rolls, to support the program. The class can use these items to create art.
"One thing I teach my kids is that you can find art in anything — and we will — which will be fun." Harris said.
The school had a similar art show in the fall and plans to have another before the end of the school, she said.
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Walker Elementary displays students' works for art show (GALLERY)