A Beach Middle School project marrying science and art will eventually provide decorations for a new outdoor reading area at the Chelsea District Library.

Students used objects they found in nature to create patterns on clay tiles that will be glazed and fired. They will then adorn the columns of a new pergola in the outdoor reading area at the library.

The project combined science and art classes at the school and was led by teachers and volunteers from Chelsea Center for the Arts and staff members from the Waterloo Recreation Area.

“It’s great because different parts of the community are coming together,” said Pat Little, principal at Beach Middle School in Chelsea. “The first day the students learned lessons about native species here in Michigan, then they went (for a hike) and found samples of native species that they put into bags… . Some of the items they found were simple as oak leaves, and others they had to get on the Internet and identify.”

Carol Strahler, a newly retired science teacher, helped the students identify their finds.

“They saw a power point, and I gave them ideas for what they could look for, like objects with texture,” she said.

All of 600 students Beach Middle School students from sixth through eighth grade took part in the project.

Steve Olsen, a school board member who helped organize the project, said it came about as a way to do a community project for the library using the support of the CCA.

“Eighteen months ago, the seed was planted. It came out of a group called the Gateway Community Initiative which wanted a public art project along with place-based components using what is in the area of Chelsea,” said Olsen. “It’s a way for the students to get outside and see things other than in books,” he added.

The objective of the Gateway Communities Initiative is to promote tourism by encouraging visitors to the view natural, scenic and historic areas around Chelsea, while also drawing them into Chelsea’s businesses and activities.

“It protects the character of the community by balancing nature and commerce,” said Olsen. “It is a holistic approach to use our land to create economic activity and also protect the land to keep it attractive for use for the next generation.”

Janet Alford, who works at the library and the CCA and is a retired art teacher, was in charge of showing the students how to make clay tiles.

She showed the students how to press plants they collected into the .

“Look at how hard I’m pushing in this leaf,” Alford said, adding that if it wouldn't come off after the pressing, the heat in the kiln would take care of it.

“It will burn off in the 1,800 degrees in the kiln. That’s three times more than mom’s oven,” she said.

After the demonstration, the students began shaping their tiles and pressing the leaves and seeds and other nature finds into them.

“I love art. This project was very, very fun,” said sixth-grader Ted Ulisse, 10, of Chelsea, holding up his tile.

His classmate Samantha Gillman, 11, of Gregory, also liked it.

“I think it was pretty fun to get to go outside and collect stuff. And it’s great for the community. It will last forever.”