Spring 2012 - Web - Nbed.nb.ca

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ART in Di Learning through Clay By Scott Hamer ArtsSmarts is a national organization that promotes “teaching, learning, doing and thinking” through the Arts. For our small class of 16 at-risk students from the Petitcodiac Alternative Education Center, it was a great opportunity for them to experience a unique educational project that would energize them as students. Talented artist Dorrie Brown began working with our class in September, bringing a whole new energy into the classroom that most of the students had never experienced before. Her weekly visits soon became the highlight of the week. The project consisted of students developing individual clay tablets that will be displayed together as a large mural at Petitcodiac Regional School. The tablets exhibit the beautiful New Brunswick forest and the local community of Petitcodiac. At first, the students were resistant to the idea of learning about forestry in New Brunswick and the community of Petitcodiac. Guest speakers visited the Alternative Site in hopes of motivating the students to take more interest in the topics. The students remained somewhat disinterested, and the thought of completing a complicated art project seemed like a daunting task. The day came when we began sketching ideas for the students’ individual clay tablets. This is where the magic happened! The students were immediately engaged in the project. We were so impressed to see that the students had begun referencing the information that they had learned from previous weeks about NB forestry and Petitcodiac history. They wanted their sketches to be accurate representations of the topics they chose. One student said: “we should have just started with this!”. Whether they knew it or not, they were fully engaged in their learning and were applying the knowledge they learned into their art project. Dorrie’s visits would become more and more frequent as the students began working on their pieces of clay. The class began to feel a sense of pride in what they were doing. Principals, Vice-Principals, teachers, and students started to see the amazing pieces of art that were being developed. Finally we were seeing these students who had struggled due to behavior, attendance, and/or academic issues succeed! Dorrie and the ArtsSmarts project have allowed our students to feel a strong sense of accomplishment and success while also learning valuable curricular outcomes. A grade 10 student who has struggled for many years in school expressed what we all feel: “Thanks Dorrie, we really appreciate what you’re doing with us”. 28 Spring 2012
strict 2 A New Focus By Jessica Fenton My grade 7 ELA class is working on an ArtsSmarts project with photography artist Maurice Henri. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to teach through Art. We have been working on three themes: Personal, Environmental, and Social. During theme one, students were required to document their life through 24 photos in 24 hours. During theme two, we visited the Von Waldo Dairy farm in Cornhill, NB where students learnt how Northumberland Dairy gets most of their milk. For our last theme, we toured CBC studios and were interviewed by Jonna Brewer for CBC Radio 1. The students were excited to expand on what they have been learning. “We get to learn outside of the classroom” Tory Dockree quoted during the interview. It was during the interview, that I realized just how much the students were learning and the impact it was having on them. Alex Keevins stated: “One of my favorite parts, if I were a photographer, would probably be travelling the world and seeing different places. I think that travelling to Haiti or Africa, places you wouldn’t normally go to would be cool, and then you see inspiration that you can use for photos”. The students truly are seeing the world in a new focus. We are looking forward to our upcoming photography exhibit at the Moncton Public Library. Spring 2012 29
Page 1: p u b l i s h e d b y S c h o o l D
Page 4 and 5: Messages Welcome from Superintenden
Page 6 and 7: 2nd Millennium Role Models By Dean
Page 8 and 9: LINKS Linking Language to Learning
Page 10 and 11: Our suite of five custom, turn-key
Page 12 and 13: Come and enjoy free concerts in the
Page 14 and 15: District 2 Ach evers Achievers has
Page 16 and 17: Culinary Tech Inspires Budding Chef
Page 18 and 19: Girls Only Please By Charlotte Love
Page 20 and 21: District 2’s District Education C
Page 22 and 23: Look who’s from D2! Interview wit
Page 24 and 25: Experiencing Poetry By Stephanie Pa
Page 26 and 27: Districts 1 & 2 Score Musical Home
Page 30 and 31: ART in Di strict 2 Artist in Reside

Spring 2012 - Web - Nbed.nb.ca

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