Wilkens’ Snowflake Competition Gives Students a Break

By Karis Skaggs
Published: March 2, 2016

Sometimes, you just need a break from learning, and what better to do than make snowflakes? This is AP Lang and Creative Writing teacher Jani Wilkens’ thought process about her “snowflake competition.” All of her classes participate in this competition of simply making paper snowflakes from January through March. These paper snowflakes, which some students take extra time at home to make really nice, decoratively dangle from Wilkens’ ceiling throughout the winter months.

“So the story goes, I grew up in Michigan, and I used to joke about how much I miss snow when I got into Missouri… I missed like the beautiful snow that stays for days and it’s so pretty in Michigan,” Wilkens said. “So years ago, I started the snowflake contest, and what it is is basically I reteach students for one day how to cut a snowflake out like you would an elementary school, so we fold paper and get a bunch of scissors, and everyone can try their luck at cutting one… So then the joke is that my class looks like Michigan a little bit. It brings back the nostalgia.”

This competition, that she has done for about five or six years, is not for a grade or extra credit. The reward they get is pride (Wilkens’ also said she might give out candy to the winners.) Making snowflakes allows the class to have some time to joke, and it gives them something to laugh at. Wilkens said it was meant to be funny. She creates categories after all the snowflakes have been turned in and hands out awards to the winners of the categories.

“It’s kind of just fun,” Wilkens said. ”I think it’s important not to be too serious about life, and when we take like a half of a class period just to cut snowflakes and listen to like-I always play classical music or Christmas songs in January-it’s just fun! It’s good team building in the group and getting to know each other, just leisurely and not super intense.”

Blake Coonrod, a junior, particularly enjoyed this project. He made The Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Elvis, minion and R2-D2 snowflake. Coonrod did this activity with his younger brother while he was babysitting him, and he said it was fun to teach him how to make a snowflake. Both Coonrod and junior Amy Wedewer have enjoyed this project and hope to beat each other at winning a title of one of the categories. Wedewer made a ballerina and an Olaf snowflake. Although she hopes to win, it wasn’t her intention from the start.

“I just did it more for fun, I wasn’t thinking about the competition necessarily,” Wedewer said. “I just like projects like that. I find it fun.”