Library Assistant Lisa Wright spent her summer creating a series of incredibly detailed displays depicting scenes from the world's seven continents. The displays are paired with books catering to different reading levels so all students in the Kindergarten – Grade 8 school can engage with the theme of world travel, which is inspired by the Dr. Seuss book "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"
The intricate detail in her work is especially evident in the Europe scene, which boasts a two-foot-tall Eiffel Tower that took several days to build. The North America scene contains three miniature replicas of San Francisco's painted ladies homes, each of which took two days to create and are lit from the inside with battery-powered lights. "It's about going one step further in terms of what students can get out of this," explains Wright.
She hopes her students enjoy the 'wow factor' of her work and that they take away something related to their curricular work. "I like to look to see what is needed and what resources are needed for teachers to complete their job of teaching to the curriculum," she said, noting the current displays relate to learning about geography, countries and communities, which are part of the Grade 6, Grade 5 and Grade 3 curriculums, respectively.
Wright became interested in this type of work through her experience designing and creating costumes for school plays. "I like a challenge. I like to see what I can do and how I can change it up and make people interested," she said.
Despite the amount of time and effort that went into creating the seven continents material, Wright is already looking forward to what the library's next displays. Every month or so, she changes the theme, and she already has plans for what Halloween is going to look like.
