News : Pulsera project: VSHS students selling art made by Central America teens

Pulsera project: VSHS student Lindsey Miller discusses the bracelets at VSHS.

A table in the Vinton-Shellsburg High School cafeteria was filled with bright bracelets on Friday, with many ladies and young girls gathering around to admire the colors and craftsmanship.

Each of the bracelets, or pulseras – the Spanish word for bracelet – was made by an young artist in Central America, said student Lindsey Miller.

More than 1,000 schools in the U.S. have been working with The Pulsera Project, helping the teens from Nicaragua sell the hand-woven string and/or leather bracelets.

Each bracelet has an attached label, with the name and photo of the Nicaraguan artist who made it. Along with the bracelets, a few small purses are also for sale.

“All the money from the sale of the bracelet goes to that person,” said Miller, a member of Michele Lash’s Spanish class.

“Senora Lash told us that the effort had to be student-led, and I said, ‘I am a student; I can do this,’” said Miller. She was one of several student volunteers to take a turn at the table, discussing the bracelets and the project with people who had come for the basketball game and the VSHS band soup supper.

V-S students will be selling the bracelets through mid-February.

For more information about the Pulsera Project, click HERE. To contact Mrs. Lash, email michele.lash@vscsd.org.

See more photos HERE.