Downtown Oak Harbor is starting to look like a holiday corridor, thanks to local students.

On Thursday afternoon, elementary students visited the Old Town Mall on Pioneer Way and decorated Christmas trees with ornaments made in art classes.

Carla McCoy, art teacher at Hillcrest Elementary School, said the activity started three years ago when Kristi Jensen invited the elementary schools to create ornaments and hang them in the mall.

Jensen, one of the owners of the Old Town Mall, also contributes money toward the project.

“She gives us a donation of $50 to go towards the materials that create the ornaments themselves,” McCoy said.

Each of the elementary schools chooses a theme and selects grade levels to create the ornaments to hang during the first week of November.

Hillcrest chose the Nutcracker as this year’s theme, and hung cut-out, decorated nutcrackers and ballerinas.

“This is another great opportunity for students to get their work out in the public,” McCoy said.

Joanna LeClaire, the art teacher at Oak Harbor Elementary, likened the project to an art walk, which involves putting up artwork along Pioneer Way for community viewing.

Other tree themes include Native American eagle ornaments, storybook ornaments and candy land.

“It’s always fun to see what art projects the other schools have created,” McCoy said. “Each tree is unique and fabulous in its own way.”

For Philip Esterdahl, first grader at Hillcrest, the excitement wasn’t just about the decorating, but also the creating of the ornaments and, of course, the cookies and hot chocolate provided for the decorators.

“I had lots and lots of fun,” he said.

“It’s amazing, seeing the kids so exited about getting their artwork up,” LeClaire said.

The trees are on display in the Old Town Mall until early January, McCoy said. Each tree is labeled with the name of the school responsible for the ornaments.

“This is another great opportunity for the students to get their work out in the public,” McCoy said.

“It’s also a great opportunity for the community to see what the art programs are doing.”