When I walked into Charlotte Gibboney’s office, I was immediately impressed by the art work that dominates her wall. I can only describe the collection of art work as an “installation” – eight pieces of beautiful art work unified by theme (animals) and medium (arcrylic).
Last year, Ms. Gibboney expressed her interest in having some student art work for her wall. Even though she is very impressed by the art work of our students, her expectations for the number of pieces and their size were modest. She asked Lower School Art Teacher Inna Slutskaya for a few pieces of student art work, and Ms. Slutskaya turned to her second grade students.
The students began the project by working with their own individual sketches. Each student produced several sketches and then the students collaborated to weave several ideas together into one composition. Ms. Slutskaya helped students find unifying ideas and consider how similar items might go together. The medium they used was acrylic as the students were accustomed to using acrylics as they begin with them in kindergarten. Ms. Slutskaya describes the medium as friendly for kids.
When the compositions were finished, they were signed by the students who contributed to each composition and then framed and now are on Ms. Gibboney’s wall. The bright colors, the detail, and the overall composition make for an “art gallery” experience every time I walk into her office. If you haven’t seen them, stop by Ms. Gibboney’s office as she loves for people to tour her office museum.
A little different experience occurred when I witnessed Brad Woodward’s seventh grade class whom I saw rushing en masse into the faculty bathroom. Mr. Woodward and his class were discussing the Proclamation of 1763 in which the colonists were ordered to not move from the coast, but did so anyway. One reason for the move was population density, and the students were working hard to unlock this concept.
Mr. Woodward first had all 17 students cram into the faculty bathroom and then leave the bathroom to spread out on David’s Court. Their discussion was, then, about how it was different to live and get along in different environments with different population densities. I have to believe students had a better understanding not only of the concept, but through their discussion of other factors, just why colonist might want to move from the Eastern coast to the Ohio Valley. As Mr. Woodward said, “our job is to help kids get it.”
Meanwhile the Upper School was been eerily quiet. On Wednesday morning I rolled into the parking lot around 7:30 a.m. to see the tour buses lined up and unusually awake and engaged students and teachers getting ready for their Fall overnight. Perhaps the parents supplying “Continental Breakfast” prior to boarding made the morning a bit easier.
On Wednesday morning, the freshmen were traveling to Sheridan Mountain for team building through challenge courses. For the sophomores, their destination was New York for a cultural trip that included museums and a show. The juniors were preparing for a college trip to visit schools in Pennsylvania. And the seniors? Well, they had arranged their own college tours or were coming to school to work on their college essays and applications with the Upper School faculty. Ms. Eileen Mattingly had a full docket of students.
Once again I was impressed by the level of engagement between our faculty and students as they left for the high school trips, as the worked together understanding population density and the Proclamation of 1763, and when they create art work for the Lower School principal.
That was a fun day – I love my job and ICS!