Sherman Oaks Elementary Students Create Neighborhood Replica

The neighborhood seemed a little shaky and not quite up to earthquake code, but when you are a six year old, it doesn’t matter. The students who created the small, 3-D replica of the area around Sherman Oaks Elementary School, beamed proudly at their work of art.

“I think it looks good,” said 6 year old Olivia. It took her and a classmate two weeks to build a model of the school itself for the project. 

The students constructed the milk carton and tissue paper neighborhood as part of a lesson about maps. Their teacher Briana Blincoe conceived the idea, along with a colleague, as a way to teach first graders a sense of direction. 

Teachers and parent volunteers took the class of more than twenty students on a neighborhood tour. The teacher took pictures and, over a three month period, the kids designed the businesses, apartments and roads around their school. They even put in palm trees and people. 

Several of the kids met in Councilman Paul Krekorian’s Sherman Oaks office Thursday night to display their model. Krekorian was pleased that the project gave the kids a chance to personalize their neighborhood. 

Blincoe said that of all the events she has done with her first graders over the last several years, this is by far the most popular. 

The art work will stay in the lobby of Krekorian’s office for several months.  For the kids and their teachers,  it’s one piece of real estate that will always hold it’s value.