Students paint Christmas cheer

Students from the third- and fourth-grade classrooms at Sisters Elementary School painted the town this past week with hopes of spreading Christmas cheer.

Clay Warburton, who started the project 14 years ago, once again headed up the special event. Several businesses, including Metamorphosis, Melvin's Fir Street Market, Your Store, Sisters Olive & Nut Company, BJ's True Old Fashioned Batch Ice Cream, Stitchin' Post, Martolli's, Salon Renaissance and 281 West, allowed students to paint their storefront windows.

Warburton and Mylee Cards' classes endured very cold, crisp weather on Wednesday afternoon, December 3, and two days later, Katie Parson and Julie Holden's classes made their trek downtown. Kathy Few's class always gives a festive flair to the windows at the elementary school.

Val Kennedy, co-owner of Stitchin' Post and one of the volunteers who helped Warburton prepare the windows the previous Sunday, told The Nugget that the whole concept is just great, makes the town look colorful, and brings out the heart of the kids.

"The kids get to paint their town for Christmas," said Kennedy. "I can tell by watching the kids paint that they're encouraged to do art. There's not enough art out there. It's kind of like a rite-of-passage that when you get to third and fourth grade you get to paint windows. This was so fun and I told Clay that even if I don't have a kid in his class anymore I'll help paint."

Dee Morgan, of BJ's Ice Cream, commented, "I've been here since July, and I love how the town stands behind the schools. I love the paintings, especially the hot cocoa. It just makes you feel warm when you look at it."

The bright, colorful artwork ranges from winter scenes to holiday themes, and brings smiles to all those who pass by.

Students were excited about the experience and eager to share their thoughts.

Eli Palanuk said, "I like how we got to use a lot of colors, and it was fun working with a partner. People were really nice to us and we got a lot of attention. All the paintings were really cool."

Daisy Draper said, "It was really cool to get to go paint, and it's amazing the school lets us go do it."

"It was fun seeing all the colors appear on the paintings," said Olivia Kennedy. "It was pretty neat at the end, walking around and seeing everyone's' art."

"I love to paint and I paint at home with my brother all the time," said Norma Quero. "It was awesome and fun to paint the windows downtown."

Mylee Card, a new teacher at the elementary school this year, fondly remembers being involved in the window-painting project years ago.

"I'm so excited to have the opportunity to give back to our awesome community," said Card. "Nine years ago I was a para-pro in Mr. Warburton's and Ms. Few's classes and helped with the window-painting project. I thought it was rewarding then, but now with my own students it feels even better! Having student artwork up in the community makes me smile every time I drive by! My kids did an excellent job, and I'm very proud of them."

Warburton never tires of helping students prepare their window projects to give this special gift to the community every year.

"People see our paintings and know our kids are an important part of our community, and they want to contribute," said Warburton. "As I prepare for this every year I look forward to the moments I'll spend with my students. Beyond that, I hope that the kids I taught that are now at the high school will see the windows and remember a happy time in their life, maybe remember when they were young and the window they painted and what it meant to them."

The students' 43 window paintings were a free service, but some businesses made donations to the art program at the elementary school.