Have you ever seen an animal that is half elephant and half mouse? What about half cheetah and half pig? Well, Saint Joe Grade School third graders will in their collaboration with the Digital Design class on Friday, October 27th.

This project was led by Mrs. Norwood, one of the Grade School librarians, and Saint Joe High’s own Digital Design teacher Mrs. Coleman. The project was based off of the book The Barnabas Project by The Fan Brothers, in which a half elephant and half mouse creature escapes from a lab with other misfit pets.

The third graders, after reading this book in Library class, were tasked with creating their own creature. They took animals and combined them on paper to show what their vision was. They then choose what their animal liked to eat and where its habitat was located. For example, one student drew a half dog half bald eagle. He picked the background as the Golden Dome and the animal ate fish and bones. 

All of these drawings were then sent to Digital Design students where they actually created the image on the computer using the knowledge they have learned in class. When commenting on why she chose to collaborate with St. Joe High School, Mrs. Norwood said:

“We usually do some sort of book extension activity after reading a story. I thought collaborating with the high school students took the project to another level; it made it more real for the children.”

 The third graders are coming to Saint Joe on Friday to meet the high school students who brought their visions to life. They are “super excited to see what the high schoolers have for them” as Mrs. Norwood puts it.

Mrs. Coleman says, “Interpreting pushed the high school students and they met the challenge of making what the kids wanted.”

This project embodies Saint Joe’s core value of building family with the grade school students and should be a great experience for everyone involved.