Little Red School's Showcase

As promised, I am reporting on the showcase of the work created by Will Chapman and my students at the Little Red School last Friday. Parents were invited as guests to celebrate the artistic achievements of their children. It was a grand affair with cookies and beverages served to all.

The festivities began with Will presenting a wonderful description of the workshops we taught, both of which were sponsored by Young Audiences of Santa Cruz County (YASSC). Their "mission is to help make the arts an essential part of young people's education." This is only ONE of the many educational and cultural opportunities they provide to the children of Santa Cruz County.

Below are the displays of my second and third grade students' mask wall hangings, depicting persona that represented on the of the six characteristics we should all strive to portray: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Next to each wall hanging was a artist/title card with the colorful names of their creations:

• The Peaceful Puppy
• The Dragon of Trustworthiness
• The Respectful Pig
• Horse of Honesty
• Iron Man, Who Cares About Other People
• Peaceful Sun and ‘Colorful Heart of Respect
  

Will Clipman's students actually made masks that were molded to their faces and then painted and decorated to represent mythical persona that also portrayed one or more of the six characteristics that count. The names of their masks were just as colorful as my students. In addition, they also wrote poems about their creations. Several of them read their poems during the showcase.

I really enjoyed my artist in residence at the Little Red School. The children were a delight. For example, when I told my kindergarten and first graders that they would be walk around the room displaying their belts, they all pranced around the classroom and then posed in various modeling positions. When they got on the stage in the multi-purpose room in the afternoon, they were more subdued. Here is a picture of a first grader wearing her belt followed by a picture of me working with two kindergarten students. Many of them finished their belts early, so they strung bead necklaces.




The last picture is some of the audience at the showcase. The front row is the kindergarten class. They were very quiet and serious during the presentations. Afterwards, many of them hugged me and said they would miss me. I will miss them also. They were all very special.