West Chicago school celebrates Earth Day, the arts

Art provides a universal method of communication for the students at Wegner Elementary School in West Chicago, where more than 30 languages are spoken.

Recognizing this, art teacher Lisa Miller last week launched the school's first Family eARTh Night, an early Earth Day celebration focused on art made from recycled materials.

"I think it's a fantastic way to build community, to make a school stronger and to allow students who may not always excel in the classroom, to let those kids really shine, because they do, they really shine when they get in the art room," she said.

For months, families at the kindergarten through fifth-grade school have been collecting used items that could be reused to make art, including paper towel rolls, water bottles, soup cans and CDs.

Dozens of students, parents, grandparents and siblings came to the event last Thursday for a few hours of family fun, visiting eight art and craft stations set up around the gym.

Activities included making mandalas out of the CDs, "can creatures" out of the old soup cans, flowers made from cut up water bottles and seed paper from recycled paper. Each student also had the chance to put a handprint on a rain barrel that will be auctioned off, with proceeds going to The Conservation Foundation.

In addition, each station included recycling and environmental facts to get the students thinking about ways they could reduce their carbon footprint.

"There's been a really wonderful show of support from the families to encourage more art and more events where they can use that part of their creativity," Miller said.

"There's so much testing, so many other things in education, it's nice to have something more expressive, something more personal and creative."