Art teacher Kelly McCart has a mission: Get students to the art that's all around them in the community. With that in mind, the Donegal Intermediate School teacher has spent the past year leading students in creating several large-scale projects featuring the architecture and history of Marietta, Maytown and Mount Joy.

Working with members of the Mount Joy Area Historical Society, Marietta Art Alive! and the Maytown Historical Society, the students created stained-glass windows and paintings designed to look like murals, which now hang on the walls of the school.

McCart had created mosaics in her previous positions at other schools and coming to Mount Joy inspired her to do a similar project at Donegal Intermediate. "I had a personal interest in architecture and the history of our small towns," she noted, adding that the project also aligned with an academic learning standard in the arts. "This was a way to get kids involved to take a more interested look in their community. A lot of the students live in buildings like the ones we featured."

Using a grant provided by the Donegal Foundation, McCart brought in experts from the three organizations, and the students got to work completing large paintings and stained-glass windows.

"They really enjoyed the chance to do something big and a chance to work with material they don't normally use in art class," McCart stated. "They also got a chance to make something permanent."

Tyler Hughes, a sixth-grade student, said the project combined hands-on art with a bit of local history, noting, "I liked gluing the glass. It was fun learning about where we live."

Fourth-grader Daphne Crawford agreed, adding that the scale of the project was enjoyable. "I liked working on the big painting in the art room," she remarked.

McCart is still working with students on the project, with more artwork to come.

"It's all about getting kids to look up," she said. "It's about getting them to look away from their screens, getting them to observe their environment, and helping them take pride in their work and their school. This is a positive and productive way to get kids excited about art."