Students Restore Galveston Railroad Museum

HOUSTON - Learning through restoration during art class at Mt. Carmel Acadey. High school students at the HISD charter school are working on statues from the Galveston Train Museum that were damaged during Hurricane Ike.

"The statues were swimming in flood waters of eight feet or more. Some of them are missing hands, arms...so we're basically restoring them and trying to make them look the way the were," says art teacher Ernest Davila.

Students are scraping off old paint and plaster from the statues. Then, they'll see what needs to be replaced. Next, they'll repaint, and in some cases, redress the statues.

"I think it's really fun that we're actually doing this with statues. It's something new to experience," says student Arneshia Hopkins.

"When I heard about the assignment, I didn't know they were gonna be full size statues until I saw them pop in the classroom. I thought it was a real person at first...covered in paint," says student Leo Delrosario.

Right now the art class is are working on twelve of forty statues. They hope to have them all restored by the end of the school year.

"I think it's a lot of fun because it's a big opportunity for everyone. And I really enjoy doing it because I've never done this before," says student Yajaira Villarreal.