Seven-year-old Aubree Maser poses for a portrait with her leprechaun trap at St. Francis Xavier School on Tuesday.--NEWS PHOTO ANNA SMITH
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
Grades 1 and 2 students at St. Francis Xavier School came in to find their classroom in disarray Tuesday morning, with their attempts to capture a leprechaun having gone awry.
“They came in and there was a disaster. They’ve been trying to catch a leprechaun, and they didn’t catch one, but he did leave them a note and some treats,” said teacher Melissa Scory.
Students had built various traps and tricks in their attempts to catch the mythical creature as part of a home craft project with their parents, which utilized various different mechanisms to hopefully hold the leprechaun inside until morning.
Traps, such as the creation of student Aubree Maser, were made out of various materials, including cardboard, glitter, rhinestones and even Lucky Charms cereal, with the goal of enticing the leprechaun to visit their particular project in search of various baits such as skittles, golden coins, or shamrock charms.
“For mine, he would come in and land on this platform. He can jump off and get some coins, or he can jump away and perfectly get out, but if he goes in and gets the coins, he can’t get out,” said student Luka Martinez.
Visitors from other classrooms came to see the various traps, as well as a note from the “leprechaun” celebrating his triumph over their attempts to trap him.
Students have spent the day in festive attire, working it into various aspects of the curriculum, from making as many words as possible out of the phrase “Saint Patrick’s Day” to learning about the saint himself and his work as a Christian missionary.
“We’ve been writing about things like, ‘If you caught a leprechaun, what would you do,” said Scory. ” They’ve been learning about St. Patrick and how he brought Christianity to the people, part of things, how he used the three leaf clover to explain the Holy Trinity. So they’ve been learning about all of those things, and they’re just very excited to show off their work.”
