Wait a minute, Mr. Postman: Canyons School District, now out on Winter Recess, is sending holiday greetings around the world.
Alta High students Ella Memmott and Jake Jensen are the talents behind the artwork on the covers of Canyons’ official 2020 holiday greetings. Two different — but equally festive — holiday cards were created, printed and mailed by Canyons District to herald in the holiday season.
It’s a tradition to feature student artwork on CSD’s yuletide cards, which are sent to local and regional elected officials and major supporters of Canyons students, teachers and schools. Memmott and Jensen were asked by their teachers to submit artwork to be featured on the card.
Both were so impressive that editions of each card were printed for use by the Canyons Board of Education, Superintendent Dr. Rick Robins, and other CSD departments and offices.
It took just three hours for Memmott, a senior, to sketch and paint the image of snow-dusted pine logs.
“When I was thinking of what I would like to see on a holiday card, I wanted something that everyone could relate to,” said Memmott, 17. “I loved the idea of being in the woods — and being at my family’s cabin.”
Memmott, who also is the Hawks’ Senior Class Historian and is in the school’s Book Club, has her eye on attending Brigham Young University with the aim of becoming a choreographer and a dance teacher. Memmott is the daughter of Alison and Cory Memmott from Sandy, Utah.
To spark inspiration for his holiday card design, Jake Jensen turned his eye toward the vintage hues and angles of the flashing signs at 1950s-style restaurants. “When I was first given this opportunity,” he said, “my mind immediately went to a retro diner vibe.”
Jensen, a junior at Alta High, spent a total of nine hours working on the whimsical watercolor painting with lettering that was touched up with a black marker.
The 17-year-old from Sandy, the son of Karri and Chris Jensen, enjoys his classes in architecture, which to him is a perfect blend of artistic creativity and mathematical precision. He aims to study architecture when he goes to college after graduating from Alta High in spring 2022.
There are surely CSD students who will follow in Memmott’s and Jensen’s example and spend their free time drawing, coloring and painting as the snow flurries outside during the winter break, which runs Dec. 21 through Jan. 1, 2021. But if they tire of artwork, they can turn to the pages of their favorite books — and they won’t even have to brave the cold to snap up a new tale.
Canyons District’s entire digital collection of books is available for students to access from an student-friendly app, called SORA. In addition, students can use SORA, with their school log-in credentials, to access to all of the digital resources in the Salt Lake County Library System.
Canyons District Offices and schools are closed to the public from Wednesday, Dec. 23-Friday, Jan. 1. Classes resume on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021.
