During a long lunch block, Jaylen Goodall, Woodland junior, and Aldin Jahja, Woodland senior, suffered a period of boredom. In a hasty attempt to entertain themselves, the two decided to fingerpaint pieces of paper around Room 208, which led to an impromptu masterpiece. 

During the pumpkin decorating contest in October, Jillian Jackman, Sophomore advisor, used yellow, pink and white paint to decorate the student’ Willy Wonka and his oompa loompas. Goodall and Jahja discovered the paint in the back of Jackman’s desk drawer and got to work, but were tired of random pieces of papers. They looked around her classroom and saw a dusty tissue box cover ready for a makeover. 

“We asked if we could paint that tissue box on Jackman’s desk and she said, ‘yes,’” said Goodall. He was filled with excitement to get started on this project with his lunchmate. 

The two students were determined to make the box look special so it could sit on the desk long after they both graduated. 

“I told both Jaylen and Aldin that it had to look pretty to go back on my desk,” said Jackman. 

Goodall is confident that the piece of art shows the love that the two students have for their teacher at Woodland and was determined to make it look professional. 

The box is split into two sections, pink and yellow, with all three of their names displayed: “Miss Jackman” on the front and “Aldin” and “Jaylen” on the back. The plan is to have the front out to the class to be Jackman’s desk tag and the back be facing towards the teacher so she can be reminded of her past students. Goodall and Jahja painted the box by completely using their fingers. 

The tissue box cover took four lunch periods to finish, which adds up to 100 minutes of work. 

The freshmen in Jackmans’s b-day block three Modern History classes have watched the entire creative process. 

“This makes me feel inspired,” said Mya Fontes, Jackman’s freshmen student. “I know that hard work and dedication went into making it.”