TURNERS FALLS — Although Turners Falls High School students may have missed out on this year’s Scarecrow in the Park contest, it probably won’t keep them up at night. The scarecrows they made, however, just might.
For two years, Turners Falls High School competed in Bernardston’s annual scarecrow-making competition. This year, however, communication issues prevented special effects and video production teacher Jonathan Chappell from registering the school in time. To preserve a valuable classroom tradition, Chappell decided to organize the school’s own contest.
“Along with many other teachers here, I love project-based learning,” Chappell expressed in an email. “Several students say to me, ‘I can make something, and you’ll give me a grade for it?’ The answer is yes! That’s what every teacher wants. It’s the top of the education totem pole.”
Now, with the competition slated for Thursday afternoon, Chappell’s pupils are all smiles, hard at work letting their creativity flow.
“It gives them a chance to be kids again and play,” Chappell added.
Walking into Chappell’s classroom feels as if one has set foot into a mad scientist’s laboratory, the paint-splattered hands of high schoolers imbuing life into constructs both frightful and comedic.
Some of the students working on scarecrows said they had never done something quite like it before.
“I’ve done sculpting myself at home, but I’ve never made a scarecrow,” sophomore Audrianna Bassett said.
Bassett’s enthusiasm was palpable as she detailed her scarecrow’s head. The marred face’s wounds were molded with liquid latex, a special effect technique she’d learned from TikTok videos. Such motivation to get crafty was similarly embraced by others in the room, some of whom were initially uninspired.
“I wasn’t too excited at first … but it’s a good change of pace, and after we started it, I was really glad we did it,” said junior Branden Truesdell, who created a 7-foot-tall Grim Reaper scarecrow out of wood, chicken wire and cloth.
While students like Truesdell said their creations are “supposed to be intimidating,” others opted to execute more light-hearted concepts. One group of friends collaborated on a scarecrow featuring the likeness of former classmate Jacob Reich, complete with a mold of his face.
“He’s not dead, I should clarify that,” junior Logan Johnson disclaimed with a joking smile. “He left our class, so we felt we should honor him. In a lot of ways, he’s like our angel.”
Having worked on the scarecrows since the beginning of the school year, students described a tedious process fraught with trial and error, issues with materials and other creative impediments. Despite these challenges, this year’s scarecrows are some of the best yet, students argued.
“I’ve done it before,” sophomore Gabriel Page said of the project. “I feel like when I did it before, it was not as cool as this one.”
“I honestly did not expect it to look this good,” Johnson said.
“I hope I do this again next year because it’s been a fun experience,” sophomore Avery Miner commented.
The scarecrows will be displayed at the front of the school this week. They will be judged by two school administrators and DJ Robert “Bobby C” Campbell, who has also provided gift cards to local businesses as prizes for the winning scarecrow crafters. Members of the public are invited to view the scarecrows during non-school hours.
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.