Students’ work on display at Clintonville football stadium

By Bert Lehman

Thanks to the work of Clintonville High School art students, the district has team shields featuring the mascots of all the teams in the Clintonville Truckers conference.

The students are part of the Art Design, Lettering, and Calligraphy class. The students designed, prepped and painted 10 wooden shields for each of the teams in the North Eastern Conference. After the 4.5-by-5-feet shields were completed, they were hung on the front of the press box at the Clintonville High School Stadium.

This project is just one of several that art teacher Peggy Johnson has coined as “CHS Artists Giving Back.”

“The whole idea is these kids have a lot of talent that I thought should be utilized and shared,” Johnson said. “I also thought it would be a really neat thing for them to leave their mark here at the high school.”

Johnson said school administration was supportive of the project.

The project took around three weeks to complete.

Katherine Edwards and Megan Wittman were the lucky students who were asked to design the Clintonville Truckers shield.
“I’m glad to be able to use my artistic talents and want to do something like this to have it put on display for the community to see,” Edwards said. “It makes you feel like you can use your talents in real life and you can see where you can apply things.”

She added, “It’s nice because something like this is going to last for awhile. It’s not just something people see once and never look at again.”

Wittman said designing the Truckers shield added a little extra pressure to the project.

“You have to represent your city well,” Wittman said. “At the same time I was really excited to get to be a part of this and get to do the Truckers shield.”

She agreed that it will be nice for everyone to see the students’ work on display whenever they are at the football stadium.

“In years to come I think it will be nice to come to the games and look at this,” Wittman said.

Alexis Osborn also enjoyed being part of the project.

“It makes me proud that everyone gets to see my work because not a lot of my artistic skills get viewed by others,” Osborn said.

Students who participated in the project included Megan Andersen, Kayla Brazil, Mia Bruce, Doniven Coenen, Samanna Dey, Katherine Edwards, Carla Elias Hernandez, Alicia Forsberg, Ian Gretzinger, Bryce Jepson, Hannah Olmeda, Alexis Osborn, Anna Schmude, Brady Shauger, Lexi VanLannen, Kimberly Wilber, Erin Wisneski, Megan Wittman, and Emily Yaklyvich.

This project was just one of many that Johnson has planned for the students as part of the “CHS Artists Giving Back.” She said this group of students has proposed painting park benches for Main Street, painting the new equipment at the Noren Skate Park, creating doorway and hallway murals at the high school, as well as creating posters to help promote the musical, concerts, and other activities at the high school.

“The idea of giving back to both the high school and the Clintonville Community really resonates well with the students,” Johnson said. “The arts beautify the environment and give a more personal feel to the community. The high school art students love the idea of leaving their mark artistically, and enjoy the idea of giving back with the use of their talents.

She added, “I also love that both the Clintonville schools and the greater Clintonville community get to see our students in a positive light. This is one of those win-win type scenarios, as both the community and students get something from this act of giving back. Our students are loaded with talent and they love spreading their talents far and wide.”