Art met history at Dexter's Creekside Intermediate School last week when sixth-grade students had the chance to create tiles from ancient civilizations that will eventually be used to build a mosaic at the school.

Art teacher Jane Montero spearheaded the idea with Motwawi Tileworks in Scio Township. "Any time we can show students how our subjects can link together in a meaningful way, it's going to be a win-win for everyone," said Montero. "Students have shown that if we give relevance to what we're teaching, the retention is far greater than just memorizing facts."

Studying the ancient civilizations is part of the sixth-grade social studies curriculum.

"We can't talk about ancient civilizations without realizing the importance of natural materials found in these civilizations' regions," said social studies teacher Mary Seymour. "Clay has always been an important natural material."

Motawi sent representatives including Colleen Crawley, senior designer, and Brein Gallagher, retail specialist, to Creekside to help students create their clay tiles.

Students took their job of creating culturally accurate tiles very seriously.

"I've creaeted an ancient Indian tile drawing a picture of an elephant on the clay," said student Ashley Erickson.

Student Connor Johnson also proudly showed off his tile. "I made a dragon standing in the water with a Chinese coin in the corner."

Motawi will put the final touches on the students' work.

"After they finish with their tiles, we'll fire them at our studio and then put them in a kiln a second time to add color," Crawley said. "The tiles will be part of a permanent installation, and they'll be mounted one tile at a time in the hallway by the school's media center."

Creekside plans a dedication ceremony for the students' creation in February or March of 2011.