MISSOULA — If you have plans to visit Washington, DC this holiday season be sure to take a trip to the White House and check out the National Christmas Tree where you will see an ornament that was made right here in Missoula.
This year, one school from each state was picked to create an ornament for the National Christmas Tree -- and there were a few guidelines they needed to follow. First off, the ornament had to have red and green in it and secondly it had to represent something from your state.
“We had the idea was to do something that represented Montana in its entirety. So, we chose something that represents Montana and fishing,” Hellgate High School junior Haiden Munden said. So, we chose the cut throat trout and went from there.”
The idea for the ornament came entirely from students -- and it was the perfect assignment for the Intro to Arts class.
“So, we took strips of paper and on two of the strips we painted a tail and head and eyes. And on the third we added a water color pattern. Then we used ink to outline the eyes and all the details,” explained Hellgate High School freshman Eden Maxwell.
As you can imagine this was very exciting for the high school students and maybe just a little nerve racking as well, “I was really excited but then, I didn’t want to mess this up, because that would be embarrassing,” Maxwell said.
“I was so excited when I found out about it. I immediately called my parents and told them I am going to make an ornament for the National Christmas Tree,” Munden added.
