Students working with Ms. Ringquist in Art Studio 54 have been creating and glazing a multitude of pots!  The day that I visited, students were dipping their pots into a bucket of glaze just like professional ceramists do!  The art room was buzzing with activity as the students prepared their pots for glaze by waxing the bottoms of the vessels.

This is the first experience on the pottery wheel for most kids attending.  All the pottery is made on the pottery wheel.  To personalize their pottery, students could attach pottery together, attach more clay to their pot, and/or creatively glaze [paint] the outside surface of their pottery. There are many steps involved in creating their unique pottery.

Part of the experience was learning how to take care of a pottery studio. Students learned about the pottery tools, how to set up the pottery wheel station, prepare clay for the pottery wheel, and how to clean up their pottery wheel station.

It is an art form that involves  kinetic, spatial, fine motor, sequential, and creative skills.

Students enrolled in Art Studio 53 have been working closely with Ms. DeWind on weaving projects.  Twelve students have been weaving on portable inkle looms which are used to create belts, headbands, guitar straps, bracelets, trim, etc.  Inkle weaving is just one small facet of the whole world of weaving.  Many of the looms that students are working on were constructed by Farmington parents and families.

These dedicated and hard-working students told me that the most difficult aspect of weaving is learning how to warp the loom.  These students were designing a warp-faced weave, which means that how they set up the warp will determine the look of the final piece.

During their five years at Noah Wallace, students will engage in a developmentally spiraled curriculum which continues to build skills and develops their deeper understandings in our six overarching concepts ~ Architecture, Design, Cultural Symbol Systems, Landscape, Portrait, Still Life.

By exploring and participating in planned hands-on learning activities, students become constructors of their own knowledge. Through this active engagement students learn how to work in a studio setting which lends itself to both individual creativity and group cooperation. Students will use a wide variety of art media, techniques and processes. During art class students will have many opportunities to develop the following:  reasoning with evidence, innovative thinking, finding creative solutions, visual perception, and motor coordination.

As students “work” in the atelier, they learn to apply art elements and organizational principles. They consider, select and employ ideas and symbols. They develop an initial understanding of the place art holds in world history and culture.  And they learn how to reflect on and evaluate the quality and effectiveness of their own and others’ art.

By using adaptations of the Arts PROPEL and Reggio Emilia Models, we can effectively utilize three learning modes of engagement. (Production, Perception, and Reflection) Production is the actual making of art, while perception and reflection speak to the understanding of ideas, the seeing, and the thoughtfulness of revision. These three modes form a continuous learning cycle as the student engages in the creative work process. Additionally, the Art Portfolio is an integral part of this cycle. Each student keeps a portfolio. The portfolio contains both practice work as well as finished “masterpieces” and thus, serves as a record keeper of progress. Maintaining a portfolio also validates the effort and practice time required for increased proficiency and deeper understanding.

At Noah Wallace, frequent connections are made between the visual arts and other core curricular disciplines, such as literature, science and math. Sighting these connections serves to enrich the educational experience and assists students in transferring and applying knowledge from one domain or subject area to another. Finally, it is important to recognize the visual arts as a language (or symbol system). Art has been and continues to be one of human-kind’s most profound vehicles for communication and expression.

Mrs. Avis Turner

Dave Ferry of Newington, and retired art teacher at Farmington High School, has been illustrating professionally since his 2006 retirement.  Besides his illustration he has published two works under the trademark “Ferryland” that utilize his talents as a cartoonist.

“12 Step Program To Health & Nutrition: A 2010  Calendar” by Registered Dietitian, Carol Blanchard of NYC, and illustrated by Dave is a full color calendar that presents heart healthy tips in a monthly, humorous way.  “Loose Threads: Observations of life from the slow lane and other random thoughts” by Dave, is a full color paperback and is dedicated to all Rule Followers coping with the unfair things that life throws at them, observing from the slow lane, not the passing lane on the highway of life.

Dave is enjoying his new career.  Retirement can be a time for new directions, a time to explore interests and talents. As much as he enjoyed teaching for 30 years, he is excited about exploring the prospects of a new avocation in publishing that showcases his talents as a cartoonist.

Dave’s work can be seen on his web site www.ferryland.net.

Respect Mural

This mural was developed in response to Irving A. Robbins’ ”respect” initiative.  Within the mural, students are displaying respect for themselves, others as learners, property and the environment.  Lead designer and artist was 8th grade student Giselle Koo who engaged several other students in her project, which now hangs in the cafeteria.

Imagine mural

Irving A. Robbins student Sage VanSchelt designed the mural in 2006 as a focal point as students enter our school.  It is surrounded by many handmade paper pockets which hold students wishes, goals or dreams.  Pockets will continue to be added until the black areas are fully covered.  Our hope is that students will one day visit IAR, locate their pocket by the design that they painted on the pocket’s surface and know that they’d achieved our perhaps surpassed their secret goal.

Students from Mr Corrigan’s Alternate Energy Vehicle Design class and Mr. Wright’s Designing Minds class have begun preparation for the 2009-2010 Electrathon America season.

Electrathon is a type of ELECTRIC MARATHON in which the winner is determined by how far you go in a certain time with a given amount of battery power. Electrathon America class competition uses specific design rules to ensure safe and fair competition. These events are held around the country and is an exciting new environmentally progressive sport.

Electrathon America vehicles are single person, lightweight, aerodynamic, high efficiency, electric vehicles with three or four wheels. They must meet specific design and safety rules. They are powered by deep cycle lead acid battery packs not exceeding 67 pounds. Only sealed lead acid batteries will be allowed. See the design rules for specific battery information.

For Farmington High School, the first event will be on Friday October 30^th at LimeRock Park. In preparation for the fall event students will be making repairs and adjustments to the vehicles that competed in last years competitions and ready our new drivers for the spring competition. Every year the students design and construct an entirely new vehicle to compete against schools from all over the northeast, and occasionally from as far away as Oregon, at the spring competition in late May or early June.

When constructing these cars students have the chance to gain skills and knowledge of many different processes, materials, software programs, etc. Students design and wire the electrical system, design and construct braking systems, steering systems, powertrain systems, etc. They have the opportunity to work with new innovative materials including carbon fiber and lightweight aluminum parts. This class also allows students to hone skills in MIG and TIG welding, bodywork, machining and fabricating, designing, etc.

When the students reach the culminating event at Limerock Park they are able to show off the knowledge and pride that they have gained in designing and constructing these vehicles. Electrathon America competitions at LimeRock Park usually consist of three heats of competition. In each heat, eight to ten vehicles are lined up and will compete for one full hour to see which team has designed a car that will tally the most amount of laps around the track.

These vehicles are designed to be lightweight, aerodynamic, have little rolling friction, and the drivers are trained to drive at a consistent rate of speed as to save battery life throughout the competition. This race is as much about duration as it is speed. If your vehicle does 70 laps in the first half hour and then you do not have any battery life to finish the race you have not accomplished the goal. You hope to do as many laps as you can with the limited battery life that you are given. This means that drivers have a challenge to keep the momentum of the car and the design of the track in mind while driving.

Visit our website at http://www.caea.net/aevd/ !