Leaving their mark

The clock is ticking...there are only a few hours left before the Eagle Grove High School Class of 2018 puts on their caps and gowns to walk across the graduation stage. They will leave behind classes, teachers, friends, musicals, clubs, athletic events and so much more. But there’s one thing that some of them will leave behind that won’t be missed, but rather enjoyed for years to come.

Those graduating seniors who have been actively involved in art classes over the years have been part of a tradition that began 15 years ago - painting a tile in the ceiling at the high school. “An administrator had seen something like them in another school and told me about it and that got the ball rolling,” said EGHS Art Teacher Ann Wilde.

Since that time, hundreds of art students have chosen to paint a senior tile. Some paint. Some use pastel chalks. Some use pencil and/or colored pencils while others choose mediums like Modge Podge or airbrushing. Some are flat, others are 3-D and use things like real football helmets, artificial turf, cotton balls, raised letters, or in the case of one of this year’s seniors, Lexy Beck, real converse tennis shoes that she is using Gorilla Glue to put on the tile.

“I treat them as a culmination of a student’s high school art career and hope that they will do their best work for this,” said Wilde. “It’s kind of like an art exit exam. There are all kinds of images, quotes, designs, etc. on all the tiles.”

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