“Sticking Together” at Birch Creek Elementary School
Birch Creek Elementary art teacher Natalie Nish has had the ambition of creating a school-wide mural for a long time. “I always knew I wanted to do something but was never quite sure what or when,” she said. “Then, last year, I saw some popsicle stick collages made by students in other schools. I loved it! But it wasn’t time yet. This year, I decided we should go ahead and try it!”
Second-grade students working on the project were visibly excited. “We’re working on a project and drawing ourselves,” one student said. “Yeah,” another piped up, “this is going to involve all 750 people in our school!” With coaching from their teacher, students carefully drew details on their faces and clothes, adding skinny arms and legs pinned tight to the sides of their bodies. Some students giggled and showed off their sticks to their friends after each new addition. Others were quietly focused, trying to get it “just right.”
Nish was eager for the project to involve more than just the students. She also gave sticks to each member of the Birch Creek staff. Teachers, office administration, and custodians alike contributed their stick-like self-portraits to the cause. Nish gathered them all in a large box before gluing them to foam poster boards in stacks of even lines. The final product, affectionately titled “Birch Creek Sticks Together,” took much of a Saturday and twelve poster boards to assemble. Dorinda May, a custodian at the school, hung the posters along the stage wall in the lunchroom, where students and staff can view their collective work.
The installation itself is colorful and eye-catching, but its purpose provides deeper meaning. “I want students to really think about collaboration,” Mrs. Nish said. “I want them to see themselves as part of a larger community. I want them to know that at Birch Creek Elementary School, we stick together.”