Dairy Queen displays student art projects

Ice Cream Dreams

By Sarah Shurge – “It’s a way to bring art, community and ice cream together,” said Amber Thomas, Wayne Memorial Art teacher.
Thomas has been teaching at Wayne Memorial High School for six years. Every day she asks her students daily questions. Towards the end of the school year, she asked them “if you could create an ice cream flavor, what would it be?”
“The kids really inspired me with their answers, so I decided to create a project about it,” said Thomas.
As an end of the year project, the students were tasked with creating three ice cream flavors, a container, and a theme. They could work in groups (of two or three members) or individually to create delicious or disgusting flavors using watercolor, colored pencil, colored paint, etc.
“My favorite thing about being an art teacher is how you can watch a kid come up with an idea and then create a piece out of that idea,” said Thomas.
While the students were creating their ice cream projects, a para-pro in the classroom got the idea to reach out to the owner of Dairy Queen about putting the art on display there. The owner, Mike Petrou, graciously accepted the idea.
“It supports kids and projects that they’ve worked on. They should feel proud about it,” said Petrou.
Petrou gave the students free cones as incentive to participate.
Nine pieces done by 15 different students were put up for display. The artwork was put up in the beginning of June and will stay up during the entire summer. Thomas will pick up the projects when returning to school in the fall.
“I’m hoping the community enjoys it,” said Thomas.
If you’re interested in checking out the artwork for yourself, you can visit Dairy Queen located on the corner of S. Wayne Rd. and Chestnut St. It is open every day from 1 p.m. – 9 p.m.
“We’re proud to be a part of the community,” said Petrou. “We enjoy seeing kids coming up with families and enjoying a treat. Participating in things like this helps build memories for years to come.”