HOT SHOTS: Edgewater Elementary Pumps Up the Pumpkins

They’re round and orange and have a kind of ugly stem. But did you know that pumpkins could be everything from a tiny bat to a wicked witch to a perfect Pinocchio?

This week, more than 100 Edgewater Elementary students turned pumpkins of every shape and size into mice, giraffes, birds, bears, and even Spongebob in celebration of the school’s Halloween Book Character Pumpkin Project.

Media specialist Stephanie Ashley said this the pumpkin painting is becoming a tradition at the school. It is open to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. They have to buy their own pumpkin (real or fake).  The students choose a favorite book to read and then create a character out of a pumpkin.

The project not only becomes a fun activity for families, it lures students to read in their own personal time.

Students and parents have a heyday with the project. Platforms are created to fly Tinkerbell through the air, long stems are turned into noses for Pinocchio, hundreds of shades of blue tissue paper are carefully cut into circles to decorate the Rainbow Fish and yards upon yards of yarn are tied into a long braid for Rapunzel to escape from the tower.

“”I am truly amazed and impressed with the enthusiasm and creativity that our students exhibit with their book characters,” Ashley said. I am going to miss having the decorated pumpkins  in the library when they go home.”

Here are some of the pumpkins and students. More to the story after the gallery:

Principal Becky Schou said the project emphasizes the importance of reading in a fun way.

“It’s impossible to to choose a favorite,” she said. “Our Edgewater Eagles are so creative. I could not be prouder of them.”

Gigi Leonard said that her pumpkin, Lil’ Cutie “had the perfect pumpkin head.” She read Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Hallie Alexander read The Gingerbread Man. Her pumpkin was the Big Bad Wolf. “I worked on this for days,”  Hallie said. “It was so much fun I want to do it again.”

The pumpkins are on display through Friday (Oct. 26) when students get to take them home.