At Sutter Elementary School on the morning of Jan. 16, the Multipurpose Room was set up for the school’s 5th annual Lego Show to be held that evening. Student-constructed Lego exhibits sat on the tables. Loose Lego bricks filled giant tubs. Lego prizes were ready for children who were purchasing raffle tickets for a dollar each.
“The Lego Show is not only a great educational activity but a community building event,” said Michael Fong, Principal of Sutter Elementary School. “Families love to view the projects and socialize. Current students and families create memorable experiences from this event. Those memories often draw Sutter alumni and former Sutter parents back to this event to reminisce.”
Sutter students from TK (Transitional Kindergarten) to 5th grade were eligible to submit applications for projects. About 55 students contributed exhibits to this year’s show.
“The purpose of this event is to get the kids to work with the Lego medium,” said Brandon Chun (also known as Mr. B), parent volunteer and chairperson for the Lego Show. “There is a new theme this year, the theme of ‘versus.’ This concept can be used in a creative way. It shows a contrast of two sides. For example, you can do a mosaic that shows a contrast between the colors black and white. Or you can have your favorite sports team playing against their rival team. You can have something more off the wall where you have Stars Wars vs. Ninjago.”
Lego exhibits displaying “versus” included 10-year-old Quinn Connor’s “A House Away From the City” where a peaceful country house offered a view of the contrasting city off in a distance. Connor wrote in the exhibit description, “I like the mountains, country and city…So I combined all the areas I love and created a mini-figure world.”
Tiny holiday trees were no match for all the Halloween decorations in 9-year-old Leena El-Domeiri’s “Halloween Night,” which showcased a giant spider on a rooftop, a cemetery and a home sculpted into the face of a jack-o-lantern. Recognized by event judges for her outstanding efforts to construct this exhibit, El-Domeiri will have the honor of seeing her name on the plaque of a school trophy called the Awesome Award.
Eoghan McCaul, 11, contributed an exhibit called “Island Cruise.” His work, two feet by one foot in size, alluded to the “versus” theme with the cruise ship representing civilization against the backdrop of nature, depicted by the water, island and animals. In his exhibit description, McCaul wrote that mini-figures could swim in the water, sunbathe on the deck, enjoy first-class food, all for “a measly $20,000.”
“It was going to be a pirate ship with people fighting in the shore but I changed it to a cruise ship,” McCaul said. “It took awhile to put the food on with the Legos. There’s a waffle bar and a snack cart. I like the body of the ship the most because it took the longest time to create.”
“One thing I’ve noticed throughout the years, now that we are in the 5th anniversary of doing this show, is that the displays the students are making are getting larger,” Chun said. “Wherever their imaginations take them, we try our best to accommodate that.”