SNOHOMISH — She came up with a colorful idea to beautify schools.
Kelly O’Donaughy went to work organizing about 20 volunteers to put on an art day at Central Primary and Emerson Elementary schools this spring. She recruited parents and retired teachers to help students work on projects to improve the aesthetics of the campus.
“Everything is to make the school grounds a little more fun,” said O’Donaughy, who serves on the PTA board.
The students painted benches, rocks and pots for the school garden. They built wind chimes and houses for birds and butterflies.
“I love this kind of positive stuff,” Emerson Principal Craig Church said. “To see parents be able to carry a project that impacts the whole school is something to celebrate.”
Some of the volunteers ran stations with other crafts, such as weaving, oil painting and watercolors during art day.
Church credits the event’s success to O’Donaughy. She started art day two years ago at Central. Students completed projects that were auctioned to benefit the school’s art program.
Last year, art day expanded to include students at Emerson. The sixth-grade class started a tradition of painting tiles to put up on the outside of the school. The goal is to continue doing so with each class as they move on to middle school.
“The kids will always remember doing these projects that left their mark on the school,” Church said.
This year, each class did a project to be displayed at school. Second-grade students at Central made bird baths. The parents plan to put them around Emerson’s campus so students feel more at home when they transition to the elementary school next year.
“Then it’s not so freaky,” O’Donaughy said.
O’Donaughy also volunteers as an art docent, among other duties, in her children’s schools on Fridays. Her son, Sean Storseth, 7, attends first grade at Central. Her daughter, Lily Storseth, 9, is in third grade at Emerson.
She noticed that teachers don’t always have enough help to do art projects. That’s why she wanted to do an art day for all of the children, as well as parents who might not have time to volunteer regularly.
“This is a really fun way to reach a lot of students,” O’Donaughy said. “The kids love it. The teachers love it. And they all get to do stuff they don’t always get to do.”
Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.
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