By Suzanne Schmidt
Staff Writer
WESLEY CHAPEL — Students in Paula Smith’s art class have learned they have a lot to give to the world and she said they are happy to do it.
Smith, an art teacher at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, said she is proud of her students because they are always thinking of ways to help the community.
“The students are so wonderful,” Smith said. “They come up to me and tell me they want to do things to raise money for the community.”
The students create artwork to donate to local charities like the Hope for Hearts: A CHD Benefit Concert, the Relay for Life at Wiregrass and for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Cady Gonzalez, a senior, is the co-president of the National Art Honors Society at the school. She said she came up with the idea for a calendar in order to raise money for the club. Students in the club created original pieces for the calendar.
Through the calendar, the club was able to raise $250, which will go to paying for a booth for the students at the Relay for Life at Wiregrass April 16 and 17.
“Last year we did the relay and had to put our stuff in the booth with the National Honor Society,” Gonzalez said. “This year we will have our own booth. We had a small silent auction last year but this year, since I am the president, I want it to be bigger.”
Gonzalez said she is inspired to help in the community because of her mother, Susan Gonzalez of Wesley Chapel.
“I volunteered at the Shriners Hospitals for Children over the summer,” Gonzalez said. “My mother encouraged me to volunteer there and to be involved in the community. She has always been community-oriented. I figure what better way to help people than through my art because it is my passion.”
Another student, sophomore Logan Klauder, said she is excited to be able to help The Children’s Heart Foundation. Klauder was painting at Starbucks, 1800 Bruce B. Downs, when Sarah Berg approached her.
Berg told Klauder that the painting she was working on reminded her of her son Trevor, who is a congenital heart defect survivor. She decided to buy the painting and also asked Klauder to create some paintings to be auctioned at the Hope for Hearts: A CHD Benefit Concert last weekend. Klauder ended up painting five pieces for the benefit concert.
“The paintings will help raise money for kids with heart defects,” Klauder said. “I had so many ideas so I just painted them all. I am just really happy to help and be a part of it.”
Every second Saturday of the month, students from the club paint at the Wesley Chapel Starbucks. Smith said it is a good experience for her students.
“It is good for them to get comments,” Smith said. “It helps with their self-esteem when they get comments from people other than me and their parents.”
Jessica Spana, sophomore, said that even though she is not in art this semester because she had to take drivers education, she still loves to go to Starbucks once a month.
“It is fun because people will stop and comment on something you are doing,” Spana said. “I get to see people I used to know and people who are interested in my paintings.”
Victoria Jack, senior, is the co-president of the NAHS and is also finishing up her senior project. She will have her one-woman art show 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 27 at Starbucks, 1800 Bruce B. Downs in Wesley Chapel.
“I am happy to have my show at Starbucks because that is the first place I ever sold a painting,” Jack said. “I put a lot of work into this show with doing the paintings, getting the location, finding a mentor and sending out invitations.”
At the event, Jack plans to have a silent auction for one of her paintings with the proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
“I am big on helping with cancer,” Jack said. “I have had family members who had a scare and who have had cancer so I want to do everything I can to help. I like to help people.”
She said she has been inspired to create her paintings in some unusual ways like the first painting she created was from a dream.
“I love to paint with bright colors and I love symbolism,” Jack said. “Everything I paint has an eye in it because that is my signature.”
For more information, visit wrhs.pasco.k12.fl.us.
