JCDS Donates Reimagined Recycled Blue Dog Piece to K9's for Warriors

Jacksonville Country Day School second grade students created and donated a 3’ x 4’? work of art to K9s for Warriors, an organization that trains dogs to become service animals for Veterans during their healing and recovery.

Students worked as a team under the guidance of JCDS Art Specialist, Ms. Alli Flores, to layout, paint, glue, and resin their art. This art piece is made out of hundreds of recycled prescription bottle caps and takes inspiration from the original and iconic Blue Dog by Contemporary Artist, George Rodrigue.?

George Rodrigue was passionate about helping the community; he sold his artwork and used his profits to donate to organizations like the Red Cross and Hurricane Relief funds.?

“I talked to the second graders about how their artwork can help other people and how we can work together collaboratively to create a piece of art,” said Ms. Flores.?

Earlier in the school year, K9’s for Warriors came to campus to teach Pre-K 4 students all about the life of a service dog. After this visit and learning more about their mission, the second grade students chose this organization to be the recipient of their future Blue Dog painting. Because they chose the K9s for Warriors, they decided to create a “Red, White, and Blue Dog” which is the name of the art.?

In preparation for the creation of this piece, Ms. Flores had students read the book Why is Blue Dog Blue? by George Rodrigue, and had them make reimagined Blue Dog drawings.

“My blue dog was eating a doggy ice cream cup, I even put him in a fancy restaurant with a waitress holding a bowl serving the dog,” said JCDS second grade student, Karina M.?

Once the recycled Blue Dog artwork was finished, JCDS invited the K9s for Warriors crew to campus to accept the piece. To the student’s surprise, the trainers even brought some of their furry friends along with them as a thank you.?

“I love the word donating because it could be anything as long as it is making a difference in someone else’s life, like this Blue Dog. Just looking at it could make them happy, and I love making people happy” said Karina.?

Students have been learning about the Live to Give mindset, as a part of the 7 Mindsets curriculum. The Live to Give mindset is all about “inspiring and serving others while maximizing your potential,” according to the 7 Mindsets Book.?

The K9s for Warriors’ trainers allowed the students to pet some of their dogs and even showed them a few tricks while on campus. They said that their new art piece will live on the wall of their training room, and that they can’t wait to put it up!