In the news:
Students' storm stories turn heads
through Sam Rayburn's Ike Picket Project

Sam Rayburn High School art teacher Karin Stensrud didn't see scattered fence pickets as just debris from Hurricane Ike - she saw them as works of art and a means of expression for her students. 

"The inspiration came to me while cleaning the debris from my yard in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike," Stensrud said. "While dragging fallen fence pickets to the curb, I noticed that my street was lined with similar piles and the art teacher in me saw that these pickets were an amazing resource. I wanted my students to have an opportunity to share their experiences and express the emotions they were feeling during and after the storm, and these pickets provided the perfect opportunity."

Stensrud began collecting many fence pickets from her neighborhood, which marked the beginnings of the "Hurricane Ike Picket Project." 

Art faculty members Cavan Leerkamp, Alissa Garcia and Debi Sanstrom all embraced Stensrud's idea and soon all of the art classrooms were filled with students designing pickets. More than 250 individual pickets were designed and then assembled in the school's courtyard that provided visitors with a 360-degree visual experience that artistically expressed students' stories of the storm. 

In addition to the main exhibit in the courtyard, students worked on other projects with smaller sections of fencing.  A large panel in the foyer of the school beckoned visitors to seek out the project, while four panels in the library chronicled the impending storm, the evacuation, the destruction and the recovery.  The main exhibit in the courtyard wrapped around the breezeway and lawn, and was connected to the building as well as the large oak trees. A gateway in the far wall of the fence invited visitors to pass beneath and between the pickets and interact with the structure. 

"Each picket was unique and meaningful," Stensrud said. "Together they represent a community of young people who were personally affected by the destruction of Hurricane Ike." 

Students and teachers that passed through the courtyard were captivated by the colorful imagery, personal writings, drawings, poetry, and photography created by the students that cover the front of the pickets. 

Stensrud said that the placement of the project in the center of the campus acted as a hub of creative energy. 

"Teachers have used the lawn as an outdoor classroom and encouraged their classes to reflect on the fence as a source of inspiration for their coursework," she said. "Students took the long way around the yard and walked past the fence looking at each picket and talking to their friends about which ones they liked and why." 

Friends and family of faculty have come from neighboring districts to see and photograph the Picket Project and several teachers from across the state requested photos of the project, which was presented at the Texas Art Educators Association convention in San Antonio. 

"I think our teachers and students alike felt a sense of pride, and ownership in this amazing artwork," Stensrud said. "We were all dealt a blow by Ike, and like the fence pickets we stand side-by-side, and give each other the support that we need to succeed." 

District lead art teacher Shannon Raygoza said the collaborative nature of this project will continue as the fence is transformed into a house, built out of our students' pickets, in a group exhibition based on the Contemporary Art Museum Teen Council's "Perspectives 165: Contents Under Pressure, Exploring the Dual Theme Containers and Containment."  Many of the other high school art teachers in Pasadena have created projects based on Hurricane Ike and are working with Sam Rayburn on a design for a district-wide contribution to the show in early 2009.