Mario World, Cooking Continent and Mollusk Island will not be found in a Rand
McNally’s latest collection of maps.

But look in the classrooms at Welches Elementary School, and you can find
these and many more unique worlds created from the minds of students.

As part of a fifth grade social studies class, students made maps of their own
worlds, utilizing features and vocabulary they have studied since school began
nearly two months ago. From rivers to mountain ranges, countries to capitals,
the maps had a litany of requirements, while the theme of the map was up to
each student.

“They just enjoy the chance to be creative, but at the same time they
discover they know what the difference is between an isthmus and a strait,”
said fifth grade teacher Sara King.

TJ Brewster, 10, created “Boom Shaka Basketball” world, featuring four ball
shaped continents bearing hoops-themed names. Brewster had some bigger
plans for his world, but there was enough work to get the rivers, tributaries
and mountain ranges in place.

“I was going to put flames on (the continents), but I forgot to,” he said.

Hunter Grove, 10, created a map that also works as a picture of a fish in a
body of water. Called “Osteichthyes,” it includes numerous fish references and
even a lake in the fish continent’s tale serving as a tag. Grove, who isn’t much
of a fisherman, chose his theme due to the large amount of sources that were
available.

“I thought it would be easy to do a fish because there are so many different
types of fish,” Grover said. “And probably easy to draw because there are so
many books on fish.”

Classmate Elley Knowles, 10, kept in the seafood arena with “Mollusks
Island,” although she deviated from her initial plan on the project.
“My first idea that I had was to have, you know, the round seashells,” said
Knowles. “But then I needed an isthmus and a bay. It’s kind of hard, so I
decided to do like a spiral shell.”

Knowles ended up including the round shell at the end of an isthmus below
the main landmass, even putting an airport on it.

Meanwhile, at Welches Middle School, eighth grade teacher Chris Williamson
gave students the chance to create their own political cartoon, reflecting
significant historical or current events and focusing on symbols and pictures to
make a statement.

“Middle schoolers have a lot to say and have a lot of opinions and are paying
attention to what’s going on,” Williamson said.

Hannah Schmidt, 13, created one featuring the Liberty Bell.

In her cartoon, a piece of the bell has fallen out as a way to show the impact
of slavery.

“The Liberty Bell is about our freedom and how all Americans have rights,”
Schmidt said. “But when racism and slavery came in, I believe the Liberty Bell
wasn’t whole.”

Keith Bunting, 13, examined recent events with his cartoon depicting the Bush
and Obama administrations. In it, a Bush podium passes an Obama podium a
bomb labeled as “the economy.”

“I have absolutely no idea (where I got the idea),” said Bunting, who first
thought of creating a cartoon with Wall Street bankers stealing food
(representing money) from a banquet. “This was quicker.”