“Poetry, Pastels, and Pollinators” was a semester long collaborative project with teachers from North Elementary and community members funded by a West Virginia Division of Culture and History STEAM grant.
This project went from September 2018-May 2019, many different instructors and artists made multiple visits with students over this time. There were three main aspects to this project:
1. Students did research into native pollinators and plants. Students kept a sketchbook for their research, learned about observational drawings, taking field notes, and made drawings of the pollinators based on the information they learned.
2. Students learned about writing poetry, and wrote poems inspired by the pollinators they researched.
3. Students created video presentations about their pollinators and the positive impact they have on our environment.
4. Students made pollinator houses decorated with their drawings, poems, and a QR code that links to the video presentations.
The first day of the project for me included a presentation and workshop about observational drawings and taking field notes…
Much later in the year, students made drawings of their pollinators and learned about writing poetry…I then used the laser cutter in the WVU Printshop to engrave pieces of cedar with their drawings, poems, and QR codes.
This one about the Big Brown Bat was one of my favorites…
Students then learned how to make pollinator houses…This is a class example, using every drawing the students made on the sides of the houses.
Since I had all these drawings scanned in my computer and the Spring Semester at WVU was over, I thought I would make zines for everyone…
I LOVE the way these turned out…and it is a really nice way to have examples of everyone’s work…
This year marked the second and third STEAM grant funded projects I have worked on with elementary schools in Mon County. Every one of these projects has turned out to be a great experience, and I want to say thank you again to everyone involved! I look forward to the next one!
Joseph Lupo 
Leave a Reply