Whittier students to face the monsters of their imaginations

Whittier Elementary School fifth graders are about to come face to face with their monsters.

At least the ceramic version of them.

The students recently completed an assignment in which they wrote a story about monsters and drew a picture of their monster.

The project was the brainchild of LHS librarian Amanda Benke. She said MacArthur High School librarian Lori Manning did a similar project and shared the idea at a professional development seminar. Benke asked Whittier fifth grade teachers Whitney Pulliam and Cindy Porter if they would be interested in a joint project. Both teachers were all in.

“Any time we have a chance to partner with kids and families who will get to come up here, it’s always important to take advantage of those opportunities,” Benke said, explaining why she thought it was important to reach out to Whiitter, which is a feeder school for LHS.

“Amanda approached us and we talked to the kids. They were really excited,” Porter said. “They wrote a monster story and drew a picture. They got more involved in the story than in the drawing. They had to include the number of legs and number of arms the monster had.”

Students also had to include what the monster likes and doesn’t like and what it likes to eat, Pulliam said.

“They are still so imaginative at this age,” Pulliam said. “We have really worked on writing this year. They got to be as creative as they want. Some were really, really creative.”

Porter and Pulliam said students tried to “out scare” each other with their stories.

They said the story component meets the standard for fifth grade.

“It helped with their creative writing skills,” Porter said. “They had to match the story with what they drew. They had to follow their own story and make sure the story and drawing matched.”

Benke also contacted Kenneth Hobbs, LHS ceramics teacher, to see if he would like to involve his students.

“I talked to the students, and they were in,” Hobbs said. “I told them this is for the fifth graders. They wanted to do it for the little ones. It’s been fun. I have a lot of talented kids this year, so it’s been a blessing.”

Sianna Puentes, LHS senior, helped turn the students’ sketches into living, breathing monsters. Well, if not real living, breathing monsters, a ceramic replica of what the students drew.

“He (Mr. Hobbs) told us about it at the first of the year and I was really excited about it,” Puentes said.

“For me, it was easy,” said the first-year ceramics student who made six to seven of the monsters. “Some drawings didn’t have details on the back. I just kind of went with what felt right. I hope they like it. I worked really hard on them. I just hope they get joy from it and they can see that art comes in many forms.”

There were so many monsters to make that Scott Smith’s art students at the Life Ready Center were enlisted to help.

Porter and Pulliam are anxious for their students to see the finished product.

“This will help them understand what kind of courses they can take when they get there (LHS). They are going to be able to see what these kids do,” Pulliam said.

The big reveal will be held Tuesday when Benke sets up the Monster Museum in the library. The Whittier students will travel to Lawton High to see their monsters for the first time and meet the students who brought their monsters to ceramic life.

“The little ones get to come up to high school and will be surprised at the figurines. They will get to take them home. The older students, they get to make something for the little ones. It’s kind of a reward for the students,” Hobbs said.