Art students create box arcade

A+few+of+the+projects+done+by+students++for+the+arcade

Makala Doyle

A few of the projects done by students for the arcade

Makala Doyle, Staff Writer

All throughout the year, Mrs. Leah McNaul’s art students put a lot of hard work and dedication into their projects. Whenever you walk through the halls, you can always see artwork hung throughout the hall.

The students aren’t the only ones who work hard all year though. This year, Mrs. McNaul came up with a new idea for a project for students to work on this year and she calls it a ‘box arcade’.

Students were given the instructions to use materials from the MaherStation table to create an arcade game. The game did not have to demonstrate craftsmanship or any artistic technical skill. They just needed to focus on the problem solving, technology and engineering of the game and most importantly it had to “Work”.

This was the first time that students were able to do this project.

“I thought it would be good for kids to think about the engineering, problem solving and technology needed to get the challenge to work. They are a sculpture class and most sculptures do all of their own welding, wiring, plumbing etc.,” said Mrs. McNaul.

After about two weeks to work on the project, the box arcade was complete. With everything from a “mini” mini golf course, to skee-ball, to a mini basketball hoop, students used their creativity to create the mini arcade courses.

I wanted my students to experience problem solving at its best and most fun

— Mrs. McNaul

When asked how Mrs. McNaul got the idea she said, “Mr. Schreier and Dr. Wagner talked about how schools are providing their students with MakerStations to help them think through challenges and that is exactly what artists do, so I wanted my students to experience problem solving at its best and most fun!”

Overall, the students really liked the project and the best part about it is that you can actually play the games for each of the project!

“It was a really creative and fun project to do. It was different from your typical painting and drawing that you would normally do in an art class,” said Tierra Mahute.

As a whole, the project turned out to be really fun for students to create, and really cool for anyone who sees it. There are many talented art students, and their hard work really shows in their projects.