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Contact: Katelyn Liming, 202-619-7156
Fifty-six schools across the country are creating one-of-a-kind ornaments for the 2018 National Christmas Tree experience on the Ellipse in President’s Park in Washington, D.C. These handcrafted ornaments will adorn 56 smaller trees that surround the National Christmas Tree. The 56 trees represent each U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia as part of the America Celebrates display.The America Celebrates display is one of the highlights of the National Christmas Tree experience, which will begin on November 28 with the 96th Annual National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. Each school will create ornaments that celebrate its state, district or territory. Learn about last year’s artists and ornaments.
Through a partnership with the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Education worked with state art and education agencies to identify middle and high schools whose students would create the ornaments. The project is funded by the National Park Foundation.
"It's an excitement and privilege; patriotism at its best,” Gavin Kumar, a ninth-grade student at Leonardtown High School in Leonardtown, Maryland said. “I'm excited that my artwork is going to be on display for thousands of people to see."
“We are very honored for our class to have such a great opportunity to represent the state of Michigan at the National Christmas Tree display," Aniyah Moore, a 12th-grade student at Carman-Ainsworth High School in Flint, Michigan said. "It will be fun to create the ornaments, and to show our creativity for our state.”
"I'm honored our small school has the opportunity to represent the beautiful Big Sky State, through art, at a national level,” Elizabeth Donahue, a ninth-grade student at Roundup Junior/Senior High School in Roundup, Montana said.
| Alabama | Hewitt-Trussville Middle School |
| Alaska | Tanana Middle School |
| American Samoa | Fagaitua High School |
| Arizona | Isaac Middle School |
| Arkansas | Ardis Ann Middle School |
| California | Gabrielino High School |
| Colorado | Chappelow K-8 Arts Magnet School |
| Connecticut | Carmen Arace Intermediate School |
| Delaware | Dover Air Force Base Middle School |
| District of Columbia | SEED Public Charter School |
| Florida | Lecanto High School |
| Georgia | Riverwood High School |
| Guam | Agueda I. Johnston Middle School |
| Hawaii | Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School |
| Idaho | Central Academy |
| Illinois | Dwight Township High School |
| Indiana | Our Lady of Grace Catholic School |
| Iowa | Starmont Middle School |
| Kansas | Colby Middle School |
| Kentucky | Kentucky School for the Deaf and Kentucky School for the Blind |
| Louisiana | Wossman High School |
| Maine | Lawrence High School |
| Maryland | Leonardtown High School |
| Massachusetts | St Charles School |
| Michigan | Carman-Ainsworth High School |
| Minnesota | MACCRAY High School |
| Mississippi | Forest Hill High School |
| Missouri | Hazelwood West Middle School |
| Montana | Roundup Jr.-Sr. High School |
| Nebraska | St. Mary's School Bellevue |
| Nevada | Gerlach K-12 |
| New Hampshire | Contoocook Valley Regional High School |
| New Jersey | Ocean City High School |
| New Mexico | El Dorado Community School |
| New York | Dryden Senior High School |
| North Carolina | Needham B. Broughton High School |
| North Dakota | Beulah High School |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Saipan Southern High School |
| Ohio | Milford Junior High School |
| Oklahoma | Middle School of Piedmont |
| Oregon | Howard St. Charter School |
| Pennsylvania | Middletown Area Middle School |
| Puerto Rico | Escuela Especializada de Bellas Artes Ernesto Ramos Antonini |
| Rhode Island | Paul W. Crowley East Bay Met School |
| South Carolina | John W. Moore Intermediate School |
| South Dakota | Roosevelt High School |
| Tennessee | Fairview Middle School |
| Texas | Knippa School, Knippa ISD |
| Utah | Evergreen Junior High School |
| Vermont | Randolph Elementary and Middle School |
| US Virgin Islands | Ivanna Eudora Kean High School |
| Virginia | Governor's School for the Arts |
| Washington | Graham-Kapowsin High School |
| West Virginia | Washington High School |
| Wisconsin Wyoming |
DeLong Middle School Lingle-Fort Laramie High School |
The National Christmas Tree Lighting has strong ties to education. In 1923, a letter arrived at the White House from the District of Columbia Public Schools proposing that a decorated Christmas tree be placed on the South Lawn of the White House. On Christmas Eve that year, President Calvin Coolidge walked from the Oval Office to the Ellipse and pushed a button that lit the first National Christmas Tree. It was a 48-foot fir donated by Middlebury College in Vermont.
Today’s National Christmas Tree is a living Colorado blue spruce from Virginia, which can be viewed year-round in President’s Park. This year’s National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will kick off the holiday season with live musical performances, special guests and the official lighting of the National Christmas Tree. The festivities continue with a daily lighting of the National Christmas Tree, free evening musical performances and a chance to see the 56 state, district and territory trees and their ornaments up close from December 1, 2018 through January 1, 2019.
For more event information and updates, please visit www.thenationaltree.org and follow the National Christmas Tree on Twitter at @TheNationalTree. Join the conversation online using the hashtag #NCTL2018.
Last updated: November 9, 2018