The City of Alexandria’s Department of Transportation and Environmental Services chose a glorious autumn art project created by students at Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School to decorate its fall flier this year.
The talented fifth graders were inspired by the turning of the leaves surrounding their school to create a spectacular 13-foot by 6-foot project that now proudly hangs in the hallway.
Teacher Laura Wollman was able to incorporate elements of STEAM — science, technology, engineering, arts and math — into the work.
She first taught the children to identify trees from its leaves and learn about the different characteristics of the species.
Students then traced assorted leaves in an overlapping design using oil crayons. The final step was the layer of water color that was applied on the top of the waxy crayon images, a technique known as oil-crayon resist.
The leaves were then placed around a scarecrow and rake.
Because it was fall already, we decided it made sense to do something about leaves for the project,” said student Alexia Hermann.
Her classmate, Christopher Shallcross, added, “We first started learning about the trees and the types of leaves and then we drew them onto paper.”
Close to 160,000 homes throughout Alexandria will receive the flier through their doors this season. The picture features on the cover.
The Fall into Autumn flier contains information about the City’s leaf collection dates as well as recycling reminders.
