Cape High students create image to honor Shields Elementary

Students in Cape High teacher Jason Fruchtman’s projection mapping class created a memento for 600 students and staff of Shields Elementary in the final weeks before the school is demolished.

Fruchtman said Shields PTO President Jen Kauffman contacted him to see if he could capture a drone photo of the school population spelling out the word “Shields” before the move to Lewes Elementary across the street.

Kauffman said she met with Shields PTO board members who wanted a way to commemorate the school.

“It’s bittersweet to leave the property that’s been so special for all of these years,” Kauffman said.

Every year during Homecoming week, Fruchtman said, he makes a similar photo with the graduating class spelling out their graduation year, so he had some experience designing the composition of the photo, which had to be adjusted slightly due to the elementary students’ shorter heights.

“There’s a lot of math involved,” Fruchtman said.

For two full days, Fruchtman’s students set up the field for the photo, creating a grid with string to measure out each letter so they were parallel and straight. Students had to figure out how many people should comprise each letter and how big to make the letters.

Creating the photo was especially significant for several Cape High students who attended Shields, who also said working outside during freezing temperatures was worth it when the younger students began screaming as the drone took flight.

Cape High students stayed with the younger kids at recess after the photoshoot to show them how to use the drone. 

All Shields students and staff will receive a copy of the drone photo, Kauffman said.

“The kids were so pumped up,” she said. “They thought it was super cool.”

After the move into Lewes Elementary, asbestos removal will begin at Shields; then the old building will be demolished to make way for construction of the district’s third middle school.