Eight schools are participating in this weekend’s parade

Students at the Billy Reagan K-8 Education Center are putting the finishing touches on an after school art project that will soon be seen by thousands of Houstonians. Art teacher Carolyn James-Taylor and a group of middle school students have created an entry for this year’s Art Car parade which will be cruising down Houston’s streets on Saturday, May 11, 2013, starting at 3 p.m.

“I wanted to get these kids involved in something special while teaching them basic art concepts as well,” said James-Taylor, who has created several art car entries in the past. “I also wanted to make sure to incorporate vocabulary, math and some of the concepts they have been learning in science while we designed the car.”

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The Reagan car, called “Running Dolphins”, features a variety of sea life and a mermaid painted on a donated Dodge Ram truck.  When students first saw the vehicle, they were a little dubious that they could finish the project in time for the parade. “It’s a big truck,” said Dyamond Ned. “But we all worked together to get it done in time and we’ve learned a lot and had fun.”

HISD has eight schools participating in this weekend’s parade, including cars from Billy Reagan K-8 (#118), Poe ES (#120), Pershing MS (#125), Davis HS (#127 and #224), Reagan HS (#129),Oak ForestES (#133),SharpstownInternationalSchool(#137), and DeBakey HS (#140).

In addition, Whittier Elementary Principal Lori Lueptow and four of her students will ride on the Recipe for Success art car. Lueptow was selected by the local nutrition education group to serve as their art car queen for her efforts to encourage healthy lifestyles on her campus.  This year, she won the VegOut! Principals Challenge for getting 95 percent of her staff to eat some sort of vegetable every day in March.

To see pictures of HISD’s art car entries the day of the parade, go to the district’s facebook page at facebook.com/Houstonisd.