LOCAL STUDENTS' ART DRAWS STATE ATTENTION

SCOTT CITY - The artwork of Scott City sixth-graders Todd Bles and Barry Graham has drawn the attention of state officials.

Their artistic flair adorns this year's Christmas greeting cards of the state's commissioner of education, Robert Bartman, and State Board of Education President Gary Cunningham, said Scott City R-1 Schools Superintendent Bob Brison. The students, who are also friends, are the children of Fred and Cathy Graham and Joe and Brenda Bles.

Bartman selected the school district earlier this school year to design artwork for the cards. Last year, Brison said, the honor went to a magnet school in St. Louis.

Word came Friday that the students' works were selected, said Brison and the students' art teacher, Lynne Taylor. The works, in marker and watercolor, were chosen from among about 50 different designs by participating district kindergartners to high school seniors, Taylor said.

Cards with the designs will be sent out to educators and others throughout the nation, said Brison.

Graham's work shows a table set with three burning candles, cookies and a letter for Santa Claus and his red-nosed reindeer, Rudolph. Bles drew three hanging bells two blue and one red surrounded by clumps of holly.

On the back of each card is the artist's name, the name of his classroom teacher, and the names of the school Scott City Elementary School and the school district. The boys' teacher is Gerald Taylor, Lynne Taylor's husband.

Lynne Taylor said she chose one or two cards from each class to submit around October.

"Each grade level did something different. They weren't all in marker and watercolor," she said.

Graham, 11, said the choice of his work for the cards made him happy. But he said he didn't expect to be picked because so many other students entered their work.

"I didn't know if mine was that good or not," he said. "I thought it was okay, but I thought it was a one-in-a-million chance."

Bles, 13, said the choice of his card left him "surprised, mostly. I didn't think I'd get picked because all the high schoolers" were involved, too.

Graham, who described Bles as a friend, said he chose his design because he's always liked Christmas candles, as well as cookies. "I thought it would be Christmas-y to add something like that and turn it into a picture."

Taylor said all the children enjoyed participating in the effort.

"They thought it was a real honor to be picked by the state to submit the designs. They were always asking me, `Who won? Who won?' and I said, `I haven't heard yet.' They were anticipating, especially the ones who had theirs sent in."

Both Bles and Graham got a stack of the cards with their designs to send out to friends and relatives, said Taylor. By Saturday, Bles said, he had 10 of 75 cards left to send out to family and friends.

The choice of the students' designs left them with a celebrity status among classmates, Taylor said. But she added that with the start now of Christmas vacation, the two students didn't get to enjoy the glory with their fellow students very long.

Graham acknowledged he gained some celebrity status. "Everybody was asking for my autograph," he said.