Tracy Campbell Pearson Visits UMS!

You may have already heard about our special guest, Author and Illustrator, Tracy Campbell Pearson. She visited UMS today, speaking to all students about the process of being an artist and writer. To celebrate her visit, I was inspired to design a fun lesson based on one of my favorite characters she created: Bob the Rooster. To make their pictures of Bob, students followed a step-by-step drawing guide, outlined their work in black oil pastel, then added splashes of paint to bring their "Bobs" to life. These were a great end-of-year project!

Painting Our Clay Birds and their Nests

We owe Vito Canizarrio, the high school art teacher, a big thank you for firing our entire school's clay pieces! He fired over 257 ceramic works in the kiln at the high school as well as another 250 from Porters Point School. He said he's happy to do it because he knows how important it is for children to have the opportunity to work with clay. 

Clay is such a rich artform that everyone connects to in a very real and tactile way. There's something deep and special about clay that allows children to truly connect to their work. Today students in Ms. White's and Ms. Barnett's 1st grade classes enjoyed painting their sculptures of birds with their nests. Check out some of these fun photos a student helped me take in class: