Students from Nogales High School are leaving their mark in the nation’s capital.
The students designed ornaments to decorate Arizona’s Christmas tree. It’s among 58 smaller trees that surround the National Christmas Tree and will be on display through Jan. 1. The theme is: “What makes your state beautiful?”
Students said their goal was to capture the beauty and different aspects of living in Arizona, especially along the border. Their work highlights the Grand Canyon, the state bird, which is the cactus wren, and a Dia de los Muertos — or Day of the Dead — altar. Artistic methods include blending techniques with colored pencils, watercolors and acrylic paint.
The Arizona Department of Education selected Nogales High School. Last year, Pinnacle Peak High School students in Phoenix designed the state tree ornaments.
The state education department video highlights this year’s ornaments, as well as last year's ornaments.
According to the National Park Service, the annual National Christmas Tree Lighting has strong ties to education. In a news release, the service said:
“In 1923, a letter arrived at the White House from the District of Columbia Public Schools proposing that a decorated Christmas tree be placed on the South Lawn of the White House. On Christmas Eve that year, President Calvin Coolidge walked from the Oval Office to the Ellipse and pushed a button that lit the first National Christmas Tree. It was a 48-foot balsam fir donated by Middlebury College in Vermont.
Since 1973, the National Christmas Tree has been a living tree which can be viewed year-round in President’s Park — one of America’s 423 national parks!”
