Rankin621web

The CHALKBOARD
Oakdale
What Makes
Your Heart Soar?
Art! Kristen Mosal
Due to a year that has been overly
transient because of the COVID-19
pandemic, our special teachers have
spent the majority of the year in the
classrooms with the students. Oakdale’s
music teacher, Ms. Stover, has gone
above and beyond to ensure that our
students are still engaged in the arts
despite staying in the classroom. She
has spent this year focusing more on
visual arts across grades K-6. Ms. Stover
says her favorite thing about this new
focus this year has been “watching the
individual personalities come out in their
art and watching them make peace with
making mistakes.” She has seen the
students become more patient with
themselves and appreciate that mistakes
are a normal process in art. A favorite
project of Mrs. Stover’s and the students
this year has been weaving blankets for
carboard animals they created. In fact,
the project has already been requested
to repeat next year by some students.
When you walk down our halls, it is hard
not to be captivated by the beautiful
mural of wings outside of her classroom.
She orchestrated for each student to
show their personality on a feather and
turned it into a masterpiece. Ms. Stover
is looking forward to integrating visual
and performing arts in the 2021-2022
school year. “Both have so much to teach
our students and I’m really looking
forward to getting to enjoy both,” says
Ms. Stover. Oakdale Elementary is
extremely thankful to have Ms. Stover
teach art to our students in a year that
needs a little touch of beauty. She truly
is an asset to our school, district, and
community. It is evident that she is
passionate about her job and she puts
her all in taking the students of Oakdale
Elementary from Great to BEST!
78 • JUNE 2021