Third graders trim the tree at Longwood Gardens with their creations

Art teacher Nancy Moran applies each year to decorate a tree for the botanical garden’s Christmas festival.

By KRYSTAL NURSE

The Sun

Third-grade students from Harrison Township Elementary School created ornaments to go on trees in Longwood Gardens. Art teacher Nancy Moran previously submitted an application in May to have a dedicated tree to decorate, and she found out in August she was approved for the third year in a row.

Over 100 schools throughout the tri-state area (Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware) applied in May to have a dedicated tree during the Christmas display. Teachers enter in by filling out a form describing their intended materials or a description of an ornament, and the garden narrows it down to 13 schools to participate each year.

Each school is designated to one tree in which the teachers gather the decorations and Longwood Gardens places them on their respective trees.

“I haven’t been up there to see the tree yet, so I don’t know what all the other trees look like,” said Moran. “You gotta think up something different every year, which is a challenge, but I like a challenge.”

This year, Moran’s students created ornaments based on toys in September. She polled second graders when applying to get their input on what should be the following year’s theme and decides on the class’ favorite, if it hasn’t been done in the past.

For the tree’s topper, they deconstructed a slinky to a metal sphere, created wooden cars and planes from scratch, among others.

“I just give them instructions on how to create like the cars, I had to teach them on how to do the axles by using straws, buttons and pipe cleaners, but they were in charge of creating the ornaments,” said Moran. “I don’t create any of the ornaments. I provide the materials and they do what they want.”

In the peg ornaments, Moran created one example piece to give the kids an idea of what to do, but they went on to do self-portraits or animals on them to give a personal touch.

Moran could not pinpoint her favorite ornament because of how creative and unique the kids were in crafting the ornaments.

“I like to see them all together and for the kids to see them all together because it’s a collaboration,” said Moran. “We can’t have a complete tree without the garland, ornaments or the topper.”

The kids, she said, were excited to create the ornaments and to spend a portion of class time making and perfecting them with one another. Since the third-grade class is the only one doing it, they’re excited to do this and to have something that they can know is theirs.

Moran tries to also incorporate classroom lessons into the project to provide the kids with a better understanding of the concepts being taught.

“Sometimes, with the kids who did the Lego ornaments, we were able to talk radial design about that,” said Moran.

She added no names are to be placed on the ornaments, at the direction of Longwood, but she does keep track of them by writing little initials on each ornament and also having the students remember which ornament they made.

Completed ornaments were dropped off the week of Nov. 12, and the garden provided Moran with 30 free tickets to the Christmas lights festival. Eighteen go to the kids, and the rest go to the faculty.

“I do a raffle and put the kids’ names in a hat, and I have somebody else choose,” said Moran. “I give out two free tickets per class.”

Moran said parents have contacted her after visiting the ornaments display to say it was beautiful to see how they were decorated and they were happy to see their kids’ creations on the trees.

“One family contacted me last year saying that was the place where I think he proposed to his now-wife,” said Moran. “And then his daughter ended up having an ornament in the display and it created another moment for the family.”

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