Beaumont students’ artwork to Washington, D.C.

Josh FloryOur Town Youth

Artwork created by students at Beaumont Magnet Academy is being highlighted in the nation’s capital this month. Beaumont was one of 56 schools chosen by the National Park Service to create ornaments for the 2020 National Christmas Tree display, on the Ellipse in President’s Park. The ornaments decorate 56 smaller trees that surround the National Christmas Tree.

Art teacher Cheryl Burchett said this year’s competition was a little different because of COVID-19. Instead of decorating clear globes, students were asked to submit designs using a paper template. Approximately 100 Beaumont students participated, and 12 designs — created by in-person and virtual students — were chosen for display in Washington, D.C.

Burchett said it was tough to narrow down the entries, but that students were “stoked” to participate in a display hosted by the Park Service, the U.S. Department of Education and the National Park Foundation.

“Even if they don’t understand all of those concepts, they were super-excited about the big idea of it,” she said.

In other education news:

  • Four Knox County middle schools earned grants from the Tennessee Department of Education last month. Bearden and Gresham Middle schools will share a $19,518 STEM Start-up grant, while South-Doyle and Vine Middle schools will share a $19,286 CTE Career Exploration grant. More information is available here. Congratulations to these school communities.
  • The Disparities in Educational Outcomes Steering Committee will host a virtual community meeting on Thursday, Dec. 10, at 5:30 p.m. This meeting will focus on topics including academic achievement, impacts related to COVID-19 and the virtual learning program, and it will be livestreamed on the KCS website here.

Josh Flory is a multi-media specialist with Knox County Schools and writes the blog Hall Pass for the KCS website.

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