St. Joseph Cathedral School students design ornaments for Missouri tree in Washington D.C.

I decided to draw this because I love nature, and flowers are so fun and easy to draw. I also struggle drawing animals, so I thought I could practice drawing them for this project. ... The art needed a little more added onto it so I put the Capitol in the background.”

Jasmine, a student at St. Joseph Cathedral School

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Some mid-Missouri students’ artwork has made a national appearance in the country’s capital.

Students at St. Joseph Cathedral School in Jefferson City designed ornaments for the Missouri tree, which is seated next to the National Christmas tree in Washington, D.C.

The National Park Foundation founded the holiday tradition that features 59 trees representing each U.S. state, territory, the District of Columbia, the Bureau of Indian Education and more.

Each tree is decorated with ornaments designed by K-12 students. The Jefferson City students celebrated Missouri’s culture, landmarks and history with drawings of some of the state’s notable trademarks.

One student named Jasmine took this opportunity to showcase Missouri’s state bird, the Eastern Bluebird, perched on a flowering Dogwood tree, which is also the state’s official tree, in front of the Capitol building in Jefferson City.

“I decided to draw this because I love nature, and flowers are so fun and easy to draw,” she stated. “I also struggle drawing animals, so I thought I could practice drawing them for this project. ... The art needed a little more added onto it so I put the Capitol in the background.”

The Christmas trees will be on display until Jan. 1, 2026, at President’s Park in Washington, D.C.

Visit thenationaltree.org/ornaments/Missouri to see more of the students’ ornament designs.

Shea Baechle is a digital producer for KRCG-TV. A version of this article was published with these images on Dec. 8 at KRCGTV.com and is republished here with permission.