CanadaB次元官网网址檚 sesquicentennial is being celebrated at elementary schools around Colwood through an art project that aims to collect studentsB次元官网网址� favourite aspects of their country.

The City of Colwood is supplying the project kit to its nine schools, which includes a tree poster and other materials students will need to create the mixed-media posters.

脡cole John Stubbs Memorial School was the first to get started on the project, which was run by teacher Mellissa Ryan and art facilitator Rebecca Barnard of the West Shore Arts Council.

The students who worked on it B次元官网网址� from Kindergarten up to Grade 8 B次元官网网址� decided it was important to represent not only their country on the piece, but their city and school as well. The ocean ended up being the primary focus of the piece, but students added French Canadian cultural symbols, such as the fleur de lis, as well as a tribute to the Canadian military.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e a French immersion school, weB次元官网网址檙e located B次元官网网址� where military housing is, and weB次元官网网址檙e close to the ocean, so those were the three things that we were focusing on,B次元官网网址� said Ryan.

Barnard hopes ColwoodB次元官网网址檚 various schools can produce posters that compliment each other, but donB次元官网网址檛 overlap.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 my job to make sure that the Colwood schools do not all produce the same look. Even though they start off with the same poster, my idea is to have each of them have either a theme or a look, or something different,B次元官网网址� she said.

Some posters might have a three-dimensional aspect to it, while others will be flat, Barnard added.

The idea to involve John Stubbs students in a wide age range might seem like a difficult proposition, but Ryan said the project went smoothly and that the older students were happy to help the little ones when needed.

B次元官网网址淭hey did some sponge painting of some rocks and they were helping each other out with that B次元官网网址� it was definitely a team effort,B次元官网网址� she said.

The studentsB次元官网网址� efforts are being recorded and documented and will eventually be posted online.

And the national and even international scope of the celebration hasnB次元官网网址檛 been lost on the students, Ryan said.

B次元官网网址淚 think they were really excited to be a part of something that was happening nationwide. One of the things that IB次元官网网址檓 telling the kids is that this is a big thing. This is CanadaB次元官网网址檚 150th birthday and not only do you get to be in the photos and the videos, but people care B次元官网网址� your face could be shown in China, Japan and India and all over the world.B次元官网网址�

Sangster and Colwood elementaries are the next scheduled schools to participate in the project.

joel.tansey@goldstreamgazette.com