Christmas Tree decor goes from Whitehorse to the White House

A total of 24 handmade ornaments made their way from Montezuma Creek to the White House this winter as part of the America Celebrates display, as first reported by Kate Groetzinger of KUER.  

The display includes the towering National Christmas Tree and 56 smaller trees representing every U.S. state and territory.

The trees are decorated with unique ornaments handmade by students from a single school selected by each state each year. 

This year, Whitehorse High School was chosen to create ornaments for the Utah tree. A total of 1,500 students across the nation participated in the project funded by the National Park Foundation. 

America Celebrates writes of the ornaments from Utah, “Fifteen scholars scattered across three Visual Arts and one Student Government class worked to create 24 ornaments. Fourteen scholars are members of the Navajo Nation and one is from Acoma Pueblo.

“The scholars were inspired by the local landscape and depict different aspects of life in the Four Corners. Others featured traditional designs as well as stories such as Coyote Placing the Stars and the original Shoe Game. 

“Whitehorse scholars were free to choose their medium. While most ornaments are painted either inside or outside, two feature traditional sandpainting techniques while several others showcase three-dimensional vignettes inside the globe.”

Whitehorse High School Visual Arts teacher Georgiana Simpson orchestrated the showcase for the students.