EUGENE, Mo. - Inspirational mugs and coasters or colorful clocks and bulletin boards, the sixth-graders at Eugene Elementary School have put in more than a dozen hours after school creating artwork to be silent auctioned Thursday.
The students hope to raise enough funds to cover the commercial printing of a second set of artwork to be hung at the local Fairway grocery store.
As fifth-graders, these students created the first set - of fruits and vegetables - which currently hangs in the store, thanks to the donation of a student's family.
This time they have crafted meat and milk canvases, and the class is going to fund it themselves.
"This is a unique class; they have a high level of skill and are very artistic," said art teacher Amanda Davis. "They've worked really hard. They're not doing this for themselves, but for the community."
The set will cost about $400 to print.
"It would be amazing if this will cover it," Davis said.
The majority of the 50 or so sixth-graders have signed up to stay after school for at least one of the six two-hour sessions.
"I like staying after school. I'm excited to do this," Mallory Adrian said.
Most of the items made in the school-based art class, students keep to give to someone special. Through this special project, students can make a variety of items that family can buy at the auction, said JeAnn Boessen.
With her personal money, Davis bought canvas, blank coasters and greeting cards, paint and pens and other supplies to be used for this extracurricular project.
"I want to make sure they put out things they do a good job on so people would want to buy them," Davis said. "We're making things we think people might want."
The effort also creates a fine arts night, combining with the music program, which seems to have been well received, Davis said.
"We wanted to do something creative," said Devin Volmert, who created a bulletin board with Halle Jenkins.
Also members of the honor choir, Volmert and Jenkins said they like the idea of a combined fine arts night. The fifth- and sixth-grade musical will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the elementary gym.
Lamajah Johnson has made several pieces for the auction, including a clock and set of coasters. She was particularly involved in making a wall canvas in an "old-fashioned" style with the quote: "Wrinkles mean you laughed, gray hair means you cared, and scars mean you lived."
"I like supporting my school," Johnson said.
To see some of the students' artwork, visit coler-v-k12-ct.schoolloop.com/elementary.