27-05-2025
Chicago students honor soldiers with poppy installation
CHICAGO — Chicago Public Schools high school students are blending art and history to make a public display for Memorial Day.
At Lane Tech High School, a different kind of garden is blooming. Clumps of clay inside of Greg Steffens's art classroom have weighed, pounded and cut into poppies.
Ceramics students recently completed the Poppy Project.
'Poppies have been a longtime symbol of remembrance for soldiers and for uniformed officers who have fallen in the line of duty,' Steffens said.
The lesson was as much about art as it was about history.
More: Chicagoland commemorates Memorial Day
Lane Tech's lawn became the canvas for the month-long project. The students displayed flowers hoping to also plant an idea in the drivers passing along Western Avenue.
The poppy takes its meaning from the poem 'In Flanders Fields' by John McCrae.
''Flanders Field' connects just as much today as it did 100 years ago when it was written,' student Lucas Vega said. 'Maybe even now more because there's a lot of wear going on.'
'Each piece is made individually. They seem insignificant, individually, but then when they're put together as a whole piece, they have a lot more impact,' Steffens said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
