Visit Consuelo Perez’s fourth grade classroom at Rhodes ES and you’ll discover some pretty famous faces.
The Queen. Carrie Underwood. Steve Jobs. Kobe Bryant.
Students were asked to pick someone who inspires them and create a ‘bottle biography,’ a research project that included designing a likeness of the figure using soda bottles as the base.
“They’re developing their reading, writing, and research skills through this project,” Perez said.
They also created some lasting memories as most students said their favorite part was working on the project with their families.
Noelani Olivo created Carrie Underwood with details down to the eyelashes carefully selected.
“The best part was making it with my family,” she said. “[Underwood] sings and has a beautiful voice so we made someone we love. It was pretty easy, we just had to use a lot of hot glue.”
Lydia Ross chose to research Queen Elizabeth II.
“I’m really interested in her and her history,” Ross said. “She’s the oldest queen and has had over 30 corgis in her life. I’m a big fan of dogs.”
Her favorite part was making the outfit which included a hat, pink dress, and a corgi sculpted out of clay. “It’s too cute,” she said.
For Ben Henderson, it was a team effort working on his favorite basketball player Kobe Bryant. His mom, brother, and step dad helped which he said made the experience more fun and less stressful.
The Bottle Biographies, along with some favorites from previous years, are on display around Perez’s classroom.
“I'm most proud of their creativity,” Perez said. “Every bottle was unique and I can tell the students worked extremely hard on this project. I hope they remember how impressed everyone was after seeing their creation. I hope that inspires them to always work hard.”
