Ozark's Carroll High special education class all business when it comes to Christmas cards

The artwork on the Christmas cards has a folksy flair with simple shapes and rich colors depicting the night Jesus Christ was born.

A series called “O Holy Night,” the cards feature the star of Bethlehem, the manger, the herald angel and the three wise men – all art created by students in Meagan Chapman’s special education class at Carroll High School in Ozark.

What started out as preparation for a school art show became a school-based business known as Special Scribbles. Students in Chapman’s self-contained class create the art and a local print shop transfers the art to card paper.

It started as a cash business in 2016. Last year, Special Scribbles launched a website and created a school fund that provides a payment option through PayPal. Special Scribbles even started shipping orders. The website streamlined the process. When orders come in, Chapman prints them and students have a specific time they can work on filling orders.

“I wanted this to have a function,” Chapman said. “I wanted this to give them some experience in doing work tasks, following multi-step directions, understanding income and expenses, understanding how to ship packages. That’s the purpose of all of this.” The directed art project actually started while Chapman was still teaching elementary special education. These days, Chapman teaches 9th-12th grades and directs students through creating the artwork, which purposely features simple shapes of straight or curved lines.

“They come up with different pictures that they would like, for example, a snowman or a Christmas tree,” Chapman said. “Then, I take a piece of paper and I show them step by step… and they follow along on their paper.” Some students are more artistic than others, Chapman said. Those who aren’t as interested in art will usually help with packaging cards, following written directions to help get orders ready.

“We make them into sets of cards so you get 10 cards and 10 envelopes in a set and each set is individually stamped with our logo on the back so that everyone who receives it knows that it’s a Special Scribble,” Chapman said. Card collections are $10 for a set of 10 and gift tags are $10 for a set of 20. The skills students learn through Special Scribbles are tied to the vocational skills that are part of the curriculum. Proceeds go back into the special education class at Carroll High. While the Christmas cards have become popular, Special Scribbles is actually a year-round endeavor and also has birthday cards and T-shirts. Special Scribbles sells T-shirts featuring Alabama and Auburn art through a partnership with Barefield’s in downtown Ozark and the company Southern Casanova. For the Christmas cards, Special Scribbles has processed 70 orders this year with some orders including numerous items. Orders will be accepted through Dec. 14.

Students, Chapman said, enjoy the work involved in Special Scribbles and get excited when orders come in. “They love it,” she said. “There are so many therapeutic qualities that go with art. … And they feel proud of themselves. They see that there’s a finished product at the end of something that they created.”

Credit: Dothan Eagle

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