Port Huron Northern students paint winter scenes at Keewahdin Elementary School

Around every corner of Keewahdin Elementary School, people can now catch glimpses of some winter magic created by a group of Port Huron Northern art students.

Keewahdin Elementary School invited 14 Advanced Placement Art students and their teachers to paint winter scenery on multiple windows around the school on Tuesday. Port Huron Northern AP Art teachers Victoria Hussey and Courtney Werden said the project gives the students an opportunity to use their skills in a community setting, rather than the classroom.

"Part of the fun of it is all the younger kids watching the big kids make some fun stuff," Werden said. "A lot of our students also went to Keewahdin, so it's fun for them to come back and do this."

Hussey said Keewahdin Elementary requested the students not paint specific holiday scenes so that the paintings can stay up for the rest of winter. She said the students brainstormed on some things the younger students might enjoy seeing.

Some of the paintings include penguins, pine trees and snowy scenes. The 14 Port Huron Northern students spent the entire school day at Keewahdin creating the paintings.

"We get one day to work the magic," Hussey said.

Senior Teagan Georgia and junior Anna Zirnis both said they were happy to be invited to the school. Georgia went to Keewahdin, and said the school was what started her love for art.

"It's really cool to come back here and just see how far I've come," Georgia said.

As a senior AP Art student, this is the second time Georgia has come to paint at the elementary school. She said when she was a student at Keewahdin, she participated in an after-school art appreciation class, which launched her love for art.

While Zirnis does not have a connection to Keewahdin, she said being able to come in a make some of the younger students smile with the paintings is an amazing feeling. She said the students and teachers have come by and said they love the paintings.

"I just love to create art, and seeing the kids smile at what we're making is really cool," Zirnis said.

Hussey said the project isn't just about having the kids use their skills outside the classroom. It's also a way to show the students how art can fit within the community. Additionally, Werden said the project also acts as a design challenge for the students. They each have their own individual styles, but they have to make sure the art fits the taste of elementary school.

Contact McKenna Golat at mgolat@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Port Huron Northern art students paint at Keewahdin