Art & Poetry Show

One of the events I was most proud of as a parent involvement educator was an Art and Poetry Show we did in conjunction with school 34 in May 2017. The PIE there, my good friend Nancy Tharp (also Brandon's sister's mother-in-law), had done a similar event at her school the year before, and we decided to join forces. We partnered with our wonderful friends at Southeast Community Services, who let us use their awesome youth center space and sponsored several other parts of the event.

We offered the chance to students in 4th-6th grades to create art and poetry pieces, then we chose the best and they were displayed throughout the youth center and bound in a book that was for sale. We gave a portion of the proceeds back to the students as payment for their work. We hoped to instill in them an understanding that yes, you can use your creative talents to earn money! 

We had staff members from both schools give their time to help us run the event - here are our assistant principal Deanna Perry and social worker Michelle Mucenski.

We had gorgeous weather and a wonderful turnout, but my favorite part of the whole event was seeing these sweet kids come with their families and friends to show off their work on display. They were so proud of themselves, and I was so proud of them! It was such a wonderful afternoon.

Some musicians from Arthur's Music across the street came over to provide music for the event, local art collaborative Big Car came out to lead some art activities, and our good friend Christopher Nunn from Southeast led students in poetry activities.

Brandon and Jackson came by to check out the kids' work and made a little artwork of their own.

Emily Chestnut (a teacher at our school whose students contributed a lot of the art and poetry) came with her boyfriend, Chris. Chris went across the street to the music store and ended up buying a drum, then he and the performing musician jammed together for a while. So fun!

When we came home, we continued enjoying the beautiful weather. Jackson played outside with the bubble gun our neighbor Sue gave him and did his "exercises" inside - sliding down the stair rail.

The week following the art and poetry show, the students who had participated were invited to Big Car's local gallery and were given a tour and participated in fun art activities. It was a cool opportunity for them to see professional artists in action.