District News

Students blend art, social studies in Fair poster contest

The judges from the Spring Fair in Puyallup faced a daunting task. With a pile of more than 400 student posters stacked before them, they had to narrow the field of pink pigs, cavorting cows, and racing roller coasters to the top six entries.

“It wasn’t easy,” said Karen LaFlamme, public relations counsel with the Fair. “The students did a magnificent job with the project.”

This is the second year that the “Spring Fair in Puyallup Poster Project” contest welcomed the artistic talents of second graders throughout the district. After a successful first year, the district and Fair staff agreed to expand the program this year to include junior high school students.

The top three winning entries from both grade levels and 14 honorable mentions will be on display during the Spring Fair April 16-19. The posters will hang in the KidZone area on the first floor of the Pavilion. (See photo gallery).

The brightly colored crayon, colored pencil, markers, and watercolor images reflect memories of the Spring Fair through the eyes of students.

Teachers at both grade levels integrated themed lessons in art and social studies. In art, for example, they taught elementary students how to identify and use warm and cool colors.

During the social studies unit, second graders were asked to think about how the Fair brings people together, generation after generation, then interview a parent or other adult about their favorite memories of the Fair.

Junior high school teachers presented a DVD provided by the Fair that explains how posters can be used as effective communication tools. The teenagers also learned about careers in art.

After carefully eyeing the hundreds of entries, judges awarded the top prize at the second-grade level to Zaree Warren, a student in Janie Dymond’s class at Woodland Elementary School.

Warren’s crayon drawing shows a red barn with a chicken roosting in the loft and a family of farm animals, including a pig, chick, cow, and bunny, gathered outside under blue skies and a big yellow sun. In big bold letters at the top of her poster she writes, “Spring Fair in Puyallup!! Woo hoo!!!”

Felicia Poynter, a student in JoAnn Noel’s class at Carson Elementary, won second place for her vibrant picture of a roller coaster and farm animals. Every inch of her paper is filled with images drawn with brightly colored markers.

Third place honors go to Kayla Bower, a student in Susan Brown’s class at Zeiger Elementary, whose detailed crayon drawing shows rides, carnival booths, food stands, a barn, and a clown on a unicycle.

Ferrucci Junior High art teacher Deidre Davis encouraged her art students to enter the contest and said they were thrilled to learn they swept all three top awards.

First-place winner, Leah Wright, used oil pastels to illustrate Mt. Rainier in the background with a winding road moving toward the front of her poster. Alongside the road are images from the Spring Fair including farm animals, a barn, and carnival rides.

Second place went to Delilah Black-Tongue, who used colored pencils to illustrate the Extreme Scream ride, the faces of a rabbit and a pig, and a daring carnival ride that spins fairgoers in a circle.

Student Kelly Harrington took third place with her depiction of numerous fair rides and booths, including the Ferris wheel, roller coaster, district Science Fair, and food and game vendors. Harrington used colored pencils to create her detailed images.

Every student who submitted a poster receives a certificate of participation, and each participating school receives a $100 donation from the Fair to purchase art supplies. The winning classrooms receive $150, $250, or $300 for first, second, or third place to be used for classroom art supplies.

As first-place winners, both Warren and Wright also receive 10 Spring Fair gate tickets, 14 ride tickets, and a basket of art supplies. Their artwork will be featured on Spring Fair tickets handed out to schools in the South Puget Sound region, and each member of their class receives a Spring Fair in Puyallup gate admission ticket.

The Fair also pays to bus Warren’s second-grade class to a private party at the fairgrounds, including scones, beverages, and complimentary gate admission to the Fair.

Director of Student Learning Brian Fox praised the work by students, as well as the efforts of teachers who tied the poster project to learning standards established by the state for art and social studies.

“Once again this year we saw some outstanding work by our students,” he said. To view more photos of the student winners and their artwork, visit the Fair Web site.

See photo gallery.