As a surprise from the AP world history classes, students were given the opportunity to paint a pumpkin with something historical. Along with that students were required to write a paragraph about what they painted, and the historical importance. 

“I painted Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) meditating. It’s sort of a mix between an actual envisionment of Buddha and a statue of him, hence the golden color of his skin,” says Junior Anna Crews.

She goes on to explain why she painted it, stating, “The emergence of Buddhism impacted Eastern culture drastically,” says Crews, “It provided a fairly flexible religion/ideology that people could relate to which, in turn, led them to grab hold and spread the teachings throughout Asia.”

Junior Cameron Sanders painted a pumpkin, he states “I painted the Taj Mahal on my pumpkin,”

He continues by saying, “The Taj Mahal was one of the greatest architectural achievements of history. It’s melded together Persian, Hindu, and Islamic artistic styles and represented the focus on the arts in the Mughal empire. To this day, it remains one of the most famous and beautiful structures ever created and is visited by thousands every year.”

Kelly Erzar comments on her pumpkin, saying, “I painted Catherine II, who was also known as Catherine the Great,” she continues by saying “Catherine the Great oversaw the Russian Enlightenment, promoted the modernization of Russia, and led to the recognition of the empire as a notable power in Eurasia,” and continues to say, “She’s was such a powerful figure of her time. She took power during a time when women were subordinate, refused to remarry despite the pressure that was put on her, and she did great things for her empire. The influence and confidence that she had been very interesting.”

Senior Lindsay Hauritz lastly comments on her pumpkin, saying, “I painted my pumpkin of Willy’s Jeep,” and goes on to say, “Willy’s Jeep was used in WWI for the soldiers to travel farther on a vehicle than on foot,” concluding with, “ They are popular for teens today but many don’t know they are used in the military and it is significant. Just a simple idea can change the lives of those who need it and don’t realize that they do.”

All students who painted a pumpkin got 15 extra bonus points. So be on the lookout for more opportunities to get bonus points, they can never hurt.