Students who trickle into Nelson Elementary’s multipurpose room can’t help but giggle and point at a map of Florida. Covering a 10-foot-by-15-foot space on the wall, the map isn’t made up of topographical features or highways. Instead, it’s a collage of student self-portraits shaped into the Sunshine State’s form.
The map is part of a school-wide lesson on Juan Ponce de Leon, a Spanish conquistador who discovered and named Florida. This year is the 500th Anniversary of the day he stepped onto the shores of St. Augustine.
“Kids really get a kick out of it,” fourth-grade teacher Terry Senhauser said. “They like to go into the lunchroom and find each other’s faces.”
Nearly 500 students made a construction-paper self portrait. There were so many faces that another massive picture had to be constructed, a sign that reads “500.”
With stacks of faces, Senhauser, three Parent-Teacher Association parents and seven students laid out the map and glued the faces down. The assembly took about 25 glue sticks and two hours.
On April 3, rainy weather redirected the hanging of posters to the multipurpose room. The decision has allowed the students to enjoy the project longer.
“We wanted to drive the point home of Ponce de Leon discovering Florida but also that it’s ‘your Florida,’” Senhauser said.
The point was grasped as Senhauser asked his class who makes up Florida.
“We do!” the students responded in unison.
Senhauser teaches mostly math and science but has a special passion for teaching social studies. In fact, it was Senhauser’s idea to make the map of Florida.
“The map serves as a talking point to lead into Ponce de Leon and Florida history,” Senhauser said.
“I’m proud of Mr. Senhauser,” student Preston Williams said. “He’s the reason we did this. His face looks the best.”
Preston, 10, loved the art aspect of the project as much as the history.
“I thought my face was going to turn out weird, because I can’t draw,” Williams said. “I’m just glad that Ponce de Leon discovered Florida, so I could live here.”
Williams’s favorite thing about Florida is the beach. He enjoys venturing beyond the sea wall at Siesta Key to look for shells.
Like Williams, classmate Izabella Benas’s favorite thing about Florida is the beach, particularly Anna Maria Island.
“I think the project was really cool,” Benas said. “I never knew about Ponce de Leon, but I knew there was someone looking for the Fountain of Youth. He never found it.”
Although Ponce de Leon never found the fountain, the memory of his Floridian discovery lives on in schools such as Nelson.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.
