If you're reading this you are probably thinking of ordering t-shirts for your students. PLEASE DO NOT, unless they are organic for reasons that will follow below. Purchased t-shirts certainly promote school-team spirit, but they are NOT necessary. Everyone can find the right colors to wear at home, so if you aren't willing to spend a little more and go organic, please just let kids bring their own shirts.

     Art For the Sky is dedicated to no harmful impact upon the planet and thus, the T-shirts we highly recommend are probably different than any you have ever purchased. State-of-the-art-Earth-friendly shirts (organic cotton, no sweat shops, no plastics and American made) with the chosen design upon them are produced in a unique process, called Rehance, which makes them the softest, longest lasting, most Earth-friendly T-shirts on the planet guaranteed! The motto of the award winning company (TS Designs) that we recommend is "change the world one t-shirt at a time!" Or if you don't want to go with them, then at the very least, go local with an organic supplier. Here's why:

      Cotton requires more chemicals to produce than any other agricultural crop so going organic is super important! Far cheaper tshirts can be found of course but they are poor quality, result in tacky, plasticky images on the shirt that stick to your body on hot days, are uncomfortable against the skin, and over time . . . the color flakes off in the wash, thus ending up in the rivers and oceans and affecting the very animal the school took a stand for out in the field! While it's certainly natural to want the cheapest price, the Earth always suffers when this is the bottom line. It is time we all step it up and do the right thing for the Earth and Sky and future generations who will be wearing these shirts! The integrity of what we create on the field with 100's of heartbeats taking a stand for an animal and for the Earth and Sky is diminished when the cheapest, most harmful route is taken.

     Some schools choose is to feature the final created image on a shirt and for the school to sell these at a profit to help pay for the project or raise funds for other reasons. Many schools find a way to do this, for they do such a good job in creating community and provide students with a long lasting way to tell the story and remember the teachings of this adventure. However, no art for the sky image may be printed on a shirt except in the process listed above on organic shirts only! Yep, I am a natzi on this point and for good reason!

     Ordering Shirts: These shirts are pre-shrunk in the dye process. We suggest the following: Pre-school, youth small. K-1st, youth medium. 2nd-3rd, youth large. 4th-5th, adult small. 6th-7th, adult medium. High School and Teacher sizes should be individually ordered! Finally, civic groups like the Rotary or Lion's Club have often subsidized or covered the entire costs of the t-shirts so it helps to be creative in your scheme to get them funded.

Happy family with photo printed on their shirts

See some T-shirt design examples.

Tally, the therapy dog at Schwegler Elementary in
Lawrence, KS wears a Tree of Knowledge shirt. You can
see his "badge of honor" on the sleeve of his right leg.