The Barclay School is considered a community school. This means that Barclay creates and sustains partnerships with local organizations. These connections give students extended educational opportunities and  enable them to get involved within their neighborhoods beyond the walls of school. Through my placement at The Barclay School, I have also found opportunities to collaborate with several community organizations. 

Last fall, in a community meeting about revitalizing the vacant Rec Center (which is on school grounds) John from Greater Homewood Community Corporation (GHCC) approached me about facilitating a community mural. We looked at the outdoor wall, and agreed that because the space was surrounded by row homes, this could be a fantastic site for a community arts project.

Kelly, my site supervisor and community outreach coordinator for Barclay, works through GHCC as well.  Because of her connections, she maintains high awareness of new opportunities for students and partners. 

I have come to understand, from being at The Barclay School, that dedicated community organizations (like GHCC and Wide Angle Youth Media, which I have mentioned earlier) can help to enriching the educational experience of young learners. That is why I'm excited to work with John and the community, this spring, to create a public work of art which tells a story about our community.  Stay tuned for progress on that mural! We'll be starting in April. 

For the next few months my students are going to be investigating large themes through various art projects and explorations. Pre K will be lead through many material explorations, becoming familiar with the properties and pushing the limits of clay, paint, drawing materials, and paper. My very lively K-1st kids will look closely at, and use, the Elements of Art and Design, 2nd and 3rd graders will focus on various ways to create a narrative with their art (my hope is to include a strong literary component here), 4th and 5th grades will investigate their identity (wants, desires and dreams for the future), and finally Middle Schoolers will concentrate on what  defines their school and community including the role they take on within these contexts.  I have lessons that I'm excited to test out inspired by some of my favorite art educators (Peter London and Olivia Gude), and brand new ideas too. 

Many of my students are wonderful creative and critical thinkers. As I mentioned in my pervious post, I'm making it a goal of mine to focus on classroom management with my students so that the environment can allow for all of them to follow big ideas, ask big questions and continue to have fun!