An annual project run by the Copper Country Education Association has become a holiday tradition, giving student artists from all grade levels the chance to see their artwork displayed and sold at an art fair alongside professionals.

For more than 30 years, the Public Relations Committee of MEA Region 18-A in the western Upper Peninsula has printed blank-inside notecards with envelopes for purchase in the community, featuring student art on front and the artist’s name, school and grade on back.

The PR committee meets each fall to select 12 artworks to feature, and students are delighted to be chosen, said MEA-Retired member Kris Raisanen Schourek, the long-time chairperson of the committee who retired in 2013 from a 40-year career teaching biology and art at the Hancock Public Schools.

Schourek, who helped start the program, said 250 packets of notecards were printed this year. “For the past three or four years, we’ve sold every packet we’ve brought to the Poor Artists Sale. Some people come to us looking for the cards every year.”

The notecards are sold for $5 per 12-pack. Buyers can find them at the 49^th Annual Poor Artists Sale on Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Copper Country Community Arts Center in Hancock and at the MEA office in Hancock.

The 12 students who have their work chosen for the project receive a 12-pack of cards with their art, a multi-pack of cards, and a $20 cash award that can be used to purchase art supplies.

“This is an art-rich community, so students are excited to have their work selected,” Schourek added. “For most, it’s their first time seeing their art displayed and sold.”

Students whose artwork is chosen are asked to spend an hour selling cards at the art fair. One elementary student she described as “the greatest salesman” had so much fun working the crowd a few years ago that he returned again even when his art wasn’t featured, Schourek said.

“The community loves to support students in this way,” said Morgan Raether, a 12^th-year teacher at Jeffers High School in Painesdale who is president of the region’s coordinating council and a member of the PR committee.

She often hears kids giving kudos to each other for being selected, Raether said. “I have one student who has submitted art the past four years, and this year hers was one that got chosen. She was so excited and thankful. It was really heartwarming to see.”

Artwork has to be of general interest and able to reproduce well in black and white. The committee tries to choose art from every grade level and district that submits. The notecards are printed at the intermediate school district at cost. Proceeds help fund the program and student awards.

A longtime local and state union leader now serving on the MEA-Retired board of directors, Schourek said the notecards project began as part of a larger outreach effort which included public service announcements and a biweekly talk show on local radio.

“It’s important to promote positive school news as a reminder of the value of public education to the community,” Schourek said.

Other committee members include Beth Bertucci of Houghton High School, Melissa Hronkin of Houghton Elementary School, and Karen Scholie of Hancock Elementary School.