A variety of decorated masks have been floating around the halls of Notre Dame Academy in the past week.

English teacher Mr. Steven Stary can explain the reasoning behind the masks that everyone has been asking about.

“In College Credit English we have been studying Greek drama, where we have learned that one actor may play multiple character roles through different masks worn,” Stary said.

It is Stary’s fourth year of assigning the project to his students and from what he has seen this year’s masks are the best ones yet.

The students were each given a blank white mask and had the option of creating whoever or whatever they desired.

College Credit English student Whitney Walczyk said, “My favorite part of the project was having the opportunity to express ourselves through a mask or portraying a character through a mask. It was fun seeing all the finished masks in class.”

The masks range from Kanye West and Miley Cyrus to simply representing someone’s personality.

“Students work hard on these; a lot of creativity is shown,” Stary said.

Stary’s ultimate goal for the mask project was to teach students that the same blank mask can be turned into an infinite number of characters.

An important part of Greek drama is realizing that the person behind the mask can play multiple roles.

“I learned from the project that it can be difficult to portray a character on a mask and that everyone is incredibly creative in their own ways,” student Madalyn Foscato said.

In lieu of grading on artistic ability, Stary grades the mask project by asking his students to write an essay on why they chose to create the mask that they did.

What his students don’t know is that the mask project isn’t over yet.

Stary’s favorite part of the whole project comes in second semester. “This is just a long setup. The best part is a surprise,” he said.