Brunswick High School students turn first graders' illustrations into ceramic art

BRUNSWICK — Brunswick High School students brought illustrations created by Huntington Elementary School first graders to life by transforming the drawings into ceramic artwork. The project was a collaboration between Huntington art teacher Erin Kraly and BHS art teacher Shannon Lloyd. The idea came about because one of Lloyd's students said he did a similar project when he was younger. "Being a newer teacher with Brunswick High School, I wanted to collaborate and get to know other teachers more," Lloyd said. "Erin has always been very much a go-getter, and someone I knew I could contact." It started off with first-grade students reading "The Color Monster" by Anna Llenas. Kraly said she is an advocate for reading and likes to add a literacy component to art class. "When they see teachers be so excited about books and about reading, they are more likely to be excited about it as well," she said. "Being able to tie in books with art is super important." The first graders were then tasked to pick an emotion and create their own monster based on the emotion, Kraly said. Students drew their monster on paper, which was required to have a face, a pattern and less than 10 appendages. High school students taking ceramics then demonstrated the different techniques they learned throughout the semester when they created a ceramic piece based on one of the drawings, Lloyd said. Students were allowed to alter the pose of the monster, but it had to strongly resemble the drawing. "It established teamwork and a good work ethic for my students," she said. "They definitely did their best on this project out of any of the other ones that they did." The monster drawings and ceramic artwork will be on display in the children's section of the Brunswick Library until March 22. Kraly said it is important for students to see their work displayed. "You watch a kid's personality change when they start to see their work out in the community," she said. "You see a sense of pride form very quickly, especially at younger ages, when they see it. They are excited." After the library display is over, the first grade students will keep the ceramic monster the high schooler made for them, Lloyd said. It was a way for the older students to support the younger students. "(Everyone) really tried to make these good because they knew they were going to a first grader," she said. "It got everybody to try hard, and it built their confidence. They were really proud of the things that they made." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.