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Cascade View students offer salmon to bus shelter

July 1, 2009

By Laura Geggel

 

By Laura Geggel
Forget about bird watchers. It’s the salmon that are on the loose.
This summer, Metro riders at the Railroad Avenue Southeast bus stop near Sahara Pizza will get a fishy eyeful at their bus stop. As part of a beautification project, the third-grade students at Cascade View Elementary painted the bus shelter panels with salmon swimming against a blue background.
Cascade View PTSA President Lorraine Thurston first thought of the idea when she noticed some painted bus shelters in downtown Seattle. After some research, Thurston learned the Metro Bus Shelter Mural Program donates all of the materials, including the panels and paint, so long as a group submits a graffiti-discouraging design. 
Thurston knew that third-grade teacher Lauriekay Henley was in the midst of pursuing her masters of incorporating arts into the curriculum, and asked her if she wanted to help spearhead the project. 
Soon, the two had roped the entire third grade of 125 into the project. 
“I especially like the idea of my third-graders taking their children there one day and saying, ‘Look what I made,’” Henley said. “The salmon are such a big part of their culture.”
After spending a trimester studying salmon habitat and life cycles, the Cascade View third-graders are salmon experts. In the fall, they visited the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery and, using salmon carcasses, made colorful prints of the fish. Third-grade teacher Julie Daniels raises salmon from eggs to fry and allows her students to release them into the river once the fish come of age.
Henley said third-graders learn about salmon “so that we have salmon in the future. The same things that are good for salmon are good for people, like clean water and good watershed areas.”
Painting the mural took a matter of weeks. The mural leaders would ask the third-graders to give up their lunch or afternoon recess to help paint the design. First, the students painted a background of varying blues. Next, they colored in the fish with primary and secondary colors, using the prints they had made before as stencils.
“They chose some designs that were particularly interesting,” Thurston said. “We got some really wild and crazy colorful salmon out of it.”
Third-grader Noah Riffe agreed.
“I really thought that was a cool idea that we were going to have a piece of the third-grader’s art in the community,” said Riffe, who helped paint the ocean background. 
He noted that many of Daniels’ salmon had not survived, which showed the students how fragile the salmon are when their environments are not sound. 
Thurston predicts the fishy panels will be installed at the bus shelter in mid-July, after the panels are laminated to protect them against the weather. Next, she plans to help beautify Cascade View, but said she was happy to help the third-graders contribute to downtown Snoqualmie’s art scene. 
“They’re real proud of themselves,” Henley said. “Little people like being part of community.”
Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.

Forget about bird watchers. It’s the salmon that are on the loose.

This summer, Metro riders at the Railroad Avenue Southeast bus stop near Sahara Pizza will get a fishy eyeful at their bus stop. As part of a beautification project, the third-grade students at Cascade View Elementary painted the bus shelter panels with salmon swimming against a blue background.

Cascade View PTSA President Lorraine Thurston first thought of the idea when she noticed some painted bus shelters in downtown Seattle. After some research, Thurston learned the Metro Bus Shelter Mural Program donates all of the materials, including the panels and paint, so long as a group submits a graffiti-discouraging design. 

 

Amanda Wright, left, and Jessica Conlon work on a fish mural for a bus stop shelter in Snoqualmie.

Amanda Wright, left, and Jessica Conlon work on a fish mural for a bus stop shelter in Snoqualmie.

 

Thurston knew that third-grade teacher Lauriekay Henley was in the midst of pursuing her masters of incorporating arts into the curriculum, and asked her if she wanted to help spearhead the project. 

Soon, the two had roped the entire third grade of 125 into the project. 

“I especially like the idea of my third-graders taking their children there one day and saying, ‘Look what I made,’” Henley said. “The salmon are such a big part of their culture.”

After spending a trimester studying salmon habitat and life cycles, the Cascade View third-graders are salmon experts. In the fall, they visited the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery and, using salmon carcasses, made colorful prints of the fish. Third-grade teacher Julie Daniels raises salmon from eggs to fry and allows her students to release them into the river once the fish come of age.

Henley said third-graders learn about salmon “so that we have salmon in the future. The same things that are good for salmon are good for people, like clean water and good watershed areas.”

Painting the mural took a matter of weeks. The mural leaders would ask the third-graders to give up their lunch or afternoon recess to help paint the design. First, the students painted a background of varying blues. Next, they colored in the fish with primary and secondary colors, using the prints they had made before as stencils.

“They chose some designs that were particularly interesting,” Thurston said. “We got some really wild and crazy colorful salmon out of it.”

Third-grader Noah Riffe agreed.

“I really thought that was a cool idea that we were going to have a piece of the third-grader’s art in the community,” said Riffe, who helped paint the ocean background. 

He noted that many of Daniels’ salmon had not survived, which showed the students how fragile the salmon are when their environments are not sound. 

Thurston predicts the fishy panels will be installed at the bus shelter in mid-July, after the panels are laminated to protect them against the weather. Next, she plans to help beautify Cascade View, but said she was happy to help the third-graders contribute to downtown Snoqualmie’s art scene. 

“They’re real proud of themselves,” Henley said. “Little people like being part of community.”

 

Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.

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Written by Laura Geggel · Filed Under Schools 

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Comments

One Response to “Cascade View students offer salmon to bus shelter”

  1. Noah Riffe on June 28th, 2010 6:47 am

    i did argee

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