Scott students transform Adams kindergarten art projects

January 13, 2025

Scott Middle School students sewed together a winter wonderland of monsters for area kindergarteners to enjoy over the holiday break.
 
Fifty-five family and consumer sciences (FCS) students traveled to Adams Elementary School to present a wide array of stuffed monsters to 108 children. Kindergarteners drew pictures of friendly creatures in class this fall, and eighth graders used their sewing skills to transform them into three-dimensional objects. They then delivered their art projects to rooms full of smiling students.
 
Eighth graders Sully and Savheya said they were happy to spread cheer throughout Adams' kindergarten wing.
 
“I thought it was pretty fun,” Sully said. “I got to learn more about the kids and hang out with them. They were very excited too.”
 
“It was just fun,” Savheya said. “It felt fun to do.”
 
Scott FCS teachers Macy Konwinski and Sydney Gerfen began organizing the artistic partnership between the two schools in August. They oversaw a semester-long project that connected their students with FCS curriculum topics like sewing, embroidery, child development and community engagement.
 
Konwinski said the conversations between eighth graders and kindergarteners on the monster unveiling day made all of their efforts worthwhile.
 
“Seeing all of their reactions was super cute, and having them read stories to them or just talk about what are they going to do over winter break was super cool,” Konwinski said. “Seeing our eighth graders intrigued in that was really awesome.”
 
Scott students learned about the basics of sewing in seventh grade, and they started their eighth grade classes with a two-week embroidery project. They discovered how to form French knots, make seamless stitches and turn two-dimensional ideas into 3D creations. All of those talents came into play for the Adams monster project.
 
“They’re using a lot of their sewing skills that we’ve learned in seventh and eighth grade,” Konwinski said. “They did it all by hand and they were really creative. They got to use ribbons, felt, beads, stuffing, head-sewing thread, embroidery thread, big needles, small needles, shears, all the things that they can use. They had a lot of fun with it.”
 
Each kindergarten student drew monsters that featured many types of eyes, hands, mouths and legs. Eighth graders received the crayon sketches right after Thanksgiving break, and they began working on transforming them into easy-to-hold felt creations.
 
Adams kindergarten team leader Nina Fischer told Konwinski that her students had been counting down the days until the older artists came to their school. Savheya said she noticed that excitement level as soon as she walked into the kindergarten wing.
 
“It was fun seeing their reactions,” Savheya said.
 
Savheya gave her monsters to Levi and Asher. One of her creations was gray with black stripes, and her second monster was a friendly blue character.
 
Sully brought presents to Emmett and Jack. One was a small purple monster that had hands and horns, and the second character was red with a smiling face.
 
Sully said he enjoyed watching Emmett and Jack compare his stuffed monsters with their original drawings.
 
“That was really cool, because they noticed every single detail that I did on it,” Sully said.
 
Konwinski said she was happy to watch the eighth graders connect with kindergarteners in a face-to-face format. Scott students recently completed a child development unit in their classes, and they tied in that knowledge with the monster project. They learned about the social, emotional and intellectual development of children and how to care for babies, toddlers and younger students.
 
“Since we just wrapped that up about two weeks ago, seeing them interact with kids as well was super cool for them to kind of practice that skillset,” Konwinski said.
 
Sully said he was grateful to have a rewarding visit with Emmett and Jack after he gave them their monsters.
 
“That boosted my confidence, because it gave me something to look forward to, and I had a really good end result,” Sully said.
 
Konwinski said she was proud of her students for being positive role models for everyone at Adams. She felt that was an important gift for the kindergarteners to receive.
 
“I really hope that they just knew that there was somebody older than them that they can look up to,” Konwinski said. “Growing up for me, even seeing the fifth graders in my school, I was like, ‘I can’t wait to be like them,’ and seeing them grow up was really cool. I think that for the kindergarteners, having that to look forward to, maybe when they come to Scott, we’ll still do this project, but they can also have that memory of kindergarten and have a physical object to bring home with them.”
 
Konwinski said she and Gerfen would like to make the art project a permanent part of the FCS experience at Scott. They plan to visit Adams again this spring with a new set of students.
 
Konwinski said she hopes future classes will create the same amount of winter wonderland memories as the first group did at Adams.
 
“I think they just did a really great job,” Konwinski said.

Visit home.lps.org/cte/fcs to learn more about the many family and consumer sciences classes available at LPS.
 
Do you have a story idea? Share it with the LPS Communications Team by filling out this form!

---