In about an hour, Chittenango High School opens its doors to the public/community for the annual school fair. It takes about three hours to install the middle school artwork on the walls in the halls between the two gyms. I will be back later tonight to take it all down.
Here are pictures of 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade art – from my students and those of my colleagues Gina Fargnoli and Katy Conden.
Chittenango High School is located on Route 5 in Chittenango, NY. The school fair is a visual representation of our entire school’s curriculum with elementary school stuff in the large gym, middle school stuff in the small gym and high school stuff all around the two story building. It will take place from 5:30 – 8:00 pm tonight!
Every year I do a pencil-only celebrity portrait lesson with my Studio in Art students, and each year I recognize less and less of the celebrities. Oh, the drawings get better every year, I think. I just cannot keep up with pop-culture, lol.
Here are the celebrity drawings from the past couple years! Can you guess who they are?
Here are my #ootd (outfits of the day) from the last couple weeks. Am dying to buy something new, but, I know, I know…I should be grateful for what I have and for being able to figure out a way to wear what I have in different ways – mixing designers, changing up the shoes, etc.
My classroom is weirdly one of the warmest rooms in the school, so I am always wearing a cardigan or blazer thinking it will be a lot colder than it is only to end up flinging it on my desk chair as soon as I get to class.
BCBGMaxAzria sweater, Banana Republic pants, BCBGGeneration bootiesLord & Taylor cashmere beanie, Black Brown 1826 cashmere sweater, BCBGMaxAzria T-shirt (underneath) and leggings, Eitienne Aigner boots
I almost always toss on an apron too. Students are painting in two classes, clay in one and colored pencil in the others, so it’s not that messy yet.
JCrew cashmere hoodie, BCBGMaxAazria top and leggings, Ralph Lauren boots
But still – the minute I get paint or marker on the sleeve of something, I get so frustrated. The lure of on-line shopping rears its pretty little head and I’m like, please let me have new stuff!!!!! I want, I want!
Lord& Taylor cashmere cardigan, Banana Republic cashmere dress, BCBGGeneration booties
The joke is that you haven’t really lived until you have experienced the wrath of Tash. Usually I’m just angry with myself but…if someone is behaving inappropriately, I’ve been known to turn green. Steam comes out of my ears and I say, “Tash mad.” (lol) I am always laughing at my own jokes, sorry. I guess you have to be there.
Bailey 44 top, INC pants, BCBGGeneration sandals
This kid in the hall told me he’s going to be all cammo for Halloween so I said, “No one will see you. You’re gonna end up with no candy.” I laughed and laughed at that one. I’m telling you – camouflage jokes just never get old.
Free People cardigan, BCBGMaxAzria T-shirt, Trina Turk skirt, BCBGGeneration bootiesBailey 44 top, BCBGMaxAzria skirt, Honora necklace, BCBGGeneration booties
Another thing that never gets old – finding money on the ground. I love when this happens. It’s like the universe is saying – see, you can manifest cash anytime you want. In the US, the streets are lined in gold…sort of.
Target, Fayetteville, NY
Nickels, dimes and mostly copper pennies! And we all know those are really worth two cents because that’s how much, apparently, it costs to make a penny these days.
It’s a fun game to see how much you can find in a year. Whoever wins gets to brag and then all the money is given away.
Bailey 44 top, BCBGMaxAzria T-shirt, 7 For All Mankind jeans, BCBGGeneration sandals
You can’t really hunt for it. Money usually just finds you. You just have to believe.
Free People cardigan, Banana Republic (leather!) top and pants, Coach bootiesBanana Republic sweater, BCBGMaxAzria dress, Nine West bootsBCBGMaxAzria top and leggings, Ralph Lauren bootsBCBGMaxAzria T-shirt and pants, BCBGGeneration sandals
I like the idea that my students can become professional artists – by selling their artwork, yes, but also by winning poster contests. So when my friend Michael Moody sent me the link to a contest last June, I immediately set about using it as an extra credit assignment during the last week of school.
Students had to design their dream education or school.
The deadline for the contest was June 26, 2015. On the last day of school, I mailed about 70 entries to Albany, NY.
Zoe S. won the contest. She and her family are invited to attend a gala fundraiser in New York City on November 5th where she will be awarded a check for $100.
This is just so cool! I am sooooo excited for her. It’s one of those moments in a child’s life that she most certainly won’t ever forget.
As a teacher, you don’t always know if you’ve affected a student’s life. You want to think you have, but then you kind of go on with your life, you know? They depart to the high school and you just end up with faded memories.
But Zoe…. She is very talented, of course, but still, I did try to push her out of her comfort zone, like help her improve her compositional skills and give her advice once and a while instead of saying – oh, that is so good (because, let’s face it – her work is that good).
At the end of the year, she told me that she loved the class and loved how she learned more about art from me. Her mother later reiterated the same sentiment to me. They’d spoken about the art class at home. This is such a special gift. To really know that I mattered to her. To know that I have a true purpose in life. So Zoe won this New York State contest and is going to the ball, but I feel like the bigger winner.
