Southmoreland art teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Goodman assigned her Art 2 students to “create a paper mache animal” as it was apart of her teaching curriculum, but some students went beyond further than what the assignment required.

“I wanted the students to ask their teachers if they wanted anything specific since this was a larger scale project,” said Mrs. Goodman.

A total of five students in her Art 2 classes decided to do this gesture for two selected teachers.

Sophomores Dakota Rees, Lauren King, and Junior Hayley Vernon decided to ask Mr. Chuck Brittain if he wanted to request a specific animal for the project to display in his English classroom.

“They came and asked me for a project idea to make for the sculpture,” said Mr. Brittain. “ I asked them to make a raven since Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite authors.” Poe wrote one of the world’s most famous poems, “The Raven.”

“We constructed the Raven for Mr. Brittain because we agreed that out of all the ideas we were given, Mr. Brittain’s idea was the most creative, and it seemed like a challenge,” Rees said.

The raven sculpture is on display in Room 228, Mr. Brittain’s classroom, suspended from the ceiling by transparent fishing line. 

“They did an awesome job,” said Mrs. Brittain.

The two other students who created paper mache animals for a teacher were Abby Kropp and Maria Schultheis, both juniors

Kropp and Schulthesis decided to ask Mr. Sean Cartwright if he wanted to request a specific animal for the project.

“We decided to make the turtle because of Mr. Cartwright’s love for his two turtle’s,” Schultheis said. “We thought it would be a nice addition to the room, and a real nice appreciation gift since he went overseas” in May with the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Mr. Cartwright’s response to this was that he “appreciated it” because “I was honored that they thought of me and wanted to make a specimen of my favorite animal.”

“They all did a fantastic job and I thought it was a nice thing to design something to build for their favorite teachers,” Mrs. Goodman said.

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Bailey Stapleton

I'm a junior that enjoys hunting, fishing, golfing, and skiing. I play for the High School's Varsity Golf team. My favorite sports teams to watch are the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Latest posts by Bailey Stapleton (see all)

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