BY DONNA SWICEGOOD

A barn quilt painting of a cardinal sparked a project at Union Grove Elementary School.

Now, thanks to the fourth- and fifth-grade students at the school and a grant from EnergyUnited, there’s a whole array of barn quilt paintings decorating the school’s courtyard. Each of the paintings represent a symbol of North Carolina – from the dogwood, the state flower, to the state gem, the emerald, and the state berry, the strawberry.

A total of 11 barn quilts, painted by the students with help from artist and West Yadkin Elementary School teacher Martha Hill were unveiled last week.

The creation was more than an artistic endeavor for the students. It was also a learning opportunity, Hill said.

On Tuesday, as the barn quilt paintings were unveiled, several of the students shared what they had learned about the State of North Carolina.

Hughes said the project had a simple beginning. While sitting in her ESL classroom one day, she looked outside. “All I saw was concrete,” she said.

Later, while shopping, Hill ran across a barn quilt painting of a cardinal and bought it. She placed it on the fencing around some fo the school’s HVAC units near her classroom.

“The kids loved it,” she said. “So I thought maybe we could do some other barn quilt paintings to decorate the area.”

That was more than a year ago.

After the school received a Bright Ideas grant from EnergyUnited, the project began to take shape.

Enlisting the assistance of Hill, the students began creating their barn quilts. The effort was a collaboration between all of the students in the fourth- and fifth-grades, and that also was a learning lesson.

“They worked together and learned teamwork,” she said.

Keely Ward, principal at Union Grove, expressed her appreciation to EnergyUnited and to the staff and students at the school.

“This adds to the beauty of the school,” she said.

This project, according to Hill, is one the students can look back on with pride in years to come and know they were a part of a transformative effort at the school.

“”I am so proud of you guys,” she said to the students.

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