SHELBY - Jamal Howell and Caroline Godfrey will see their artwork displayed across the county and beyond this year. The two North Shelby students submitted the winning designs, Frosty the Snowman and Peace on Earth, for the school’s Christmas card contest. Following a 20-day voting period through shelbystar.com, the public chose the two cards from a total of six designs. The creation of the cards is an annual event that allows students to oversee the process beginning to end.
This year, they are even doing the printing in-house. All designing, printing, card folding and packaging is done on site as part of the school-based enterprise program. Through the program, students learn on-the-job training while also allowing them to make money for the school. “They learn how to perform jobs and work together on different tasks,” said North Shelby’s Donnie Peeler. All proceeds return to North Shelby School and are distributed as needed to different departments.
“This year is the first year we’ve had it entirely at the school. We’re self-contained so it’s a big step,” Peeler said. Even bigger dreams are in the works for next year. “It’s a growing business for our school. Now with the printing machine we can create brochures and different types of printing year-round,” Peeler said. They are planning to purchase new equipment for next year to make the process even smoother. “Last year we broke about even,” Peeler said about the money earned from the cards.
“We had an outsource printer. That’s why we did it in-house this year. It’s a lot cheaper.” Though they didn’t make a big financial gain in past years, there were benefits. “It did get our name out there and everybody knew who we were,” Peeler said. Jamal’s teacher is Monica Russell and he is the son of Sharon Bristol. Carolina’s teacher is Nancy nation and she is the daughter of Paul and Holly Godfrey. The cards are available for ordering on-line at the North Shelby School website.