UNPLUGGED: High school art teacher solves puzzling cure for cell-phone isolation

AURORA | In a high-school art class, students were plugged into their own work. They were hunched over their digital tablets as they silently worked on their projects. 

At one table, however, others were busy connecting puzzle pieces and connecting with one another. 

Sitting side by side, some Cherry Creek High School students looked for the edge pieces. Others connected clusters of unique patterns and colors. The students were given the opportunity to work on a puzzle created by none other than their art teacher, Alissandra Seelaus. 

She was chosen to be a part of Verizon Wireless’ campaign for Global Day of Unplugging, which encourages people to put their devices down and have human interactions. Her art will be shared with customers in the metro area at local Verizon stores. 

“I still haven’t totally wrapped my head around that, to be totally honest. It’s pretty surreal,” Seelaus said. 

Andre Duncan, director of retail sales for Verizon, said that Seelaus’ art was chosen specifically because it “spoke to the essence of unplugging, being present and focusing on what’s important.” The 500-piece puzzle depicts a woman watering various potted plants. The phrase “what you water grows” is written on one corner of the puzzle. 

Duncan also acknowledged that Verizon is a technology-based company, but they also “ believe that human connection is the root of everything that we do.”

According to a survey conducted by Verizon, 16% of American adults reportedly spend five to six hours on their phones. Reportedly, 25% spend more than six hours a day on their phones. 

Gen Z, which the Pew Research Center defines as people born between 1997 and 2012, and women spend more than six hours a day on their phones. 

Estrella Gonzalez, a high school senior and student in Seelaus’ art class, said her screen time is about 10 hours a day, excluding the times when she’s driving and asleep. Andora Stock, a senior, and Evie Change, a junior, also said they spend a lot of time on their phones and laptops. The students use their phones for school, to read, to listen to music or just to pass the time. 

Seelaus said that getting people to unplug is “a daily battle in high school” but that art is the best way to disconnect from the digital world. 

“It sounds biased because I teach art, but making something is the best way to go about that,” she said. “So something like creating a puzzle, where you create a thing even if you don’t have a creative skillset, is a wonderful option.”

In addition to creating art, both digitally and through analog mediums like paint, Seelaus unplugs by going on hikes with her husband. 

For Gonzalez, she enjoys going to the movies or bowling with friends. Stock spends time with her dog and mom. Chang does her homework and talks with friends.

Global Day of Unplugging is an international campaign to “end loneliness” and encourage human interactions by stepping away from screens and participating in an offline activity. 

It is meant to be celebrated from “sundown to sundown” on March 1-2. 

Around the world, people responded to the campaign with their own events and calls to action. A Maryland high school hosted an Unplugging Challenge. Artwork was displayed in Paris, and people were invited to a phone-free dinner in South Korea and Indonesia. 

Outside of teaching, Seelaus also creates and sells illustrations on her website, including the piece used for the jigsaw puzzle. She said it’s “nice to show and practice” that people, especially someone that her students know and not “some stranger on the internet,” can make a living as an artist. 

“This is a really valuable learning opportunity to understand and see that being an illustrator, being a designer is a real career that you can have,” Seelaus said. 

Her students said that she was “cool”, and appreciated her art and the work that went into it.

Gonzalez said that it was a nice experience to work on something that was created by someone she knew personally. Chang said she knew that her art teacher created illustrations outside of work, “but it’s really cool to be able to actually see what she’s been working on.”

“It definitely takes a lot of effort to make something like this and I can see that,” Stock said. “ I can tell it’s really important to [Seelaus].”

Get the puzzle
In Denver, three Verizon stores will be giving out the jigsaw puzzle with any purchase. Those stores are:

• Cherry Creek Mall, 3000 E. First Ave.
• Colorado Blvd., 2073 S. Colorado Blvd.
• Northfield, 8384 E. Northfield Blvd.