Some lucky birds are about to get colorful new digs, thanks to the creativity of Leechburg Area High School students.
The Birdhouse Project is the latest project of high school art teacher Shail Prorock. Last month, six students designed and painted birdhouses.
The homes will be donated to Cook Medical in Parks City. Birdhouses on the Cook are installed in May.
Cook’s corporate social responsibility representative, Joseph Felshaw, said the birds were immediately moved to aviaries.
“Blackbirds, robins and a few cardinals have also come in over the past few days. “We are proud to have birdhouses on display and local wildlife here on our premises,” he said.
Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review
Cook Medical in Parks City
Helene Gazda, a junior, has a sense of humor in her designs.
“I was inspired by paintings of fairy houses and fantasy worlds,” says Gazda. “I loved doing this project. It’s going to be a great cause, and I’m happy to be involved in it.”
Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review
Leechburg Area High School art student Helen Gazda designed a fairy tale birdhouse that will be donated to Cook Medical in Parks Township as part of the art class’ Birdhouse Project.
Students worked on the birdhouses for several weeks, using acrylic paint and then air-sealing them.
Eliza Trusiak, a high school student, chose a popular dessert to decorate her birdhouse.
“It’s an ice cream theme. I thought it would look beautiful on campus and on Rose Day,” Trusik said. “My art style isn’t usually this pretty, but it was a fun and interesting project.”
Prorock implemented the project two years ago and donated six birdhouses to Cook. The new houses will gift a total of 12 birdhouses.
“Every two months they are looking for us to build more birdhouses,” Prorock said of the ongoing project.
Students from the technical education department made each wooden birdhouse.
“This project is completely in-house,” Prorock said. “It’s important from a community perspective that people can see what’s in our room. These birdhouses are visible outside. It helps the students develop a bit of community pride.
Felschau said Cook partnered with the Leechburg Area School District to showcase student talent.
“Giving back to the places we live is one of the seven values that Cook encourages its employees to have,” Felschau said. “We focus on community health, youth education and our social enterprise as part of our social responsibility as a corporation.”
Jessa Oliver, senior, gave a nod to her Ukrainian heritage in her design.
“The flowers above are based on Ukrainian traditional patterns and on both sides are Ukrainian weapons,” Oliver said. “On the front of the aviary is a sunflower, the national flower of Ukraine.
Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review
Leechburg-area high school art student Jasa Oliver High painted a Ukrainian-themed custom birdhouse.
The words written in Ukrainian on Oliver’s birdhouse translate to “Glory to Ukraine.”
Superintendent Tiffany Nick said having students’ artwork on display in the local community is a win-win idea.
“Our partnership with Cook Medical is truly a gift to our school. It’s great to have a local business involved with our students, staff and curriculum,” said Nick.
The three birdhouses are very pink.
“My motivation was to raise awareness for breast cancer, and I was happy to make a house for a bird,” said freshman Sophia Charles.
The birdhouses were put on display during Pink Day at a breast cancer research fundraiser in Leechburg on Saturday.
Junior Azleen Banichar incorporated Cook’s branding into her creation.
Banichar painted a green four-leaf clover with pink to represent breast cancer awareness and his partnership with Cook.
Ryleigh Zamperini used wooden popsicle sticks, rocks and pebbles for her birdhouse, arranging each one individually to create shingles and a roof.
“My theme was an abandoned cabin. The aviary was challenging, but I loved everything about it,” Zamperni said.
Joyce Hanz is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Joyce by email at jhanz@triblive.com or on Twitter. .
