In Memory of the Life of a True Creative - Victoria Nicodemus

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Dear Donors,

Thank you so much for you kind donation to my art classroom. The donation received provided funds for students to create a STEAM related project. Students drew blueprints based on an architectural style they researched. They then create their architectural forms in 3-dimensional form using balsa wood and hot glue. Students intersected creativity, math, and engineering.

Students displayed their work at the Spring Arts Showcase. Some of the work will be permanently displayed within the school building.

Thank you for supporting the art.”

With gratitude,

Ms. s.

Dear Donors,

Thank you for your generous donations to our project, "Photography 101". My students have used the Canon cameras to document their science project "Solar S'Mores". During our science fair and family science night, students took photographs of the various projects. They learned the basics for using a digital camera such as zooming in and out, being aware of what is in the background, and holding the camera still while snapping the photo! The students love to see their photographs posted on Class Dojo and have created many lasting memories of their year in 4th grade using the cameras.

Thank you!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Black

It is with sincere gratitude that I thank you for supporting our classroom project Empowering Students Through Art in the ESOL Classroom Part 3! My students and I truly appreciate your support. I know it has been awhile since this project was funded, my students have been very busy learning and exploring our school community. These resources were used with my fifth grade and Community Club students.

We began our project during winter. Since it was too cold to go outside, we went on virtual field trips. We learned all about our local parks, community spaces and murals. Students had the opportunity to use butcher paper to create their own murals! The oil pastels made their artwork come to life!

Now, we are preparing for our Mother's Day Art and Garden sale. Students created beautiful landscape pictures of our garden using the canvas panels. Students used the flower canvas panels to replicate spring flowers that are currently growing in our garden. They also used acrylic paints to illustrate on flower pots. They are eager to showcase their works of art. Your gift brought great joy to my students. Thank you for supporting us in memory of your friend Victoria Nicodemus. You are our hero!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Washington

Thank you again for funding our project, "Art Changes Lives". We received the paints and brushes in early January shortly after our students returned from Winter Break. The timing couldn't have been better since we were running low on paints and many of the brushes students were using were becoming old and worn. The packages arrived like late Christmas gifts and the students were excited to open the boxes and see the new colors.

I launched two new projects involving painting upon the students return. Students created pop art word illustrations in which they creatively combined a word and image in a pop art style. The students were excited to use some of the new bright colors we ordered that are often seen in pop art styles. They also enjoyed using some of the new smaller brushes that are necessary for such detailed paintings. In another class, students used the paints and brushes to complete large painted portraits of famous role models, such as President Obama, Amelia Earhart and Mae Jemison.

The materials that were so graciously donated will be used throughout the rest of the school year in various projects. Currently, the students are creating Chinese inspired dragon heads out of cardboard, paper mache and paint. Later this year, we will do a unit on Surrealism in which students will create their own Surrealist painting. The will also complete a painting parody in which they chose a well-known work of art and recreate it in a humorous manner. In another class students will be working in groups of 4-5 to create 4 large bulletin board size paintings (4 by 8 feet) that will have school related themes and will be permanently displayed on the campus. My students and I are excited and grateful to have the necessary paints and brushes to complete these ambitious projects this year. We thank you for supporting our students and in helping provide quality art materials.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Saenz

Thank you so much for helping fund our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) project; Art in Motion, STEAM Time! We have the tri-pod set up in our classroom and have a pendulum set up on it from using some string. At the bottom of the pendulum is a small s hook on to which our bottles of paint connect to. The students have been taking turns sitting with me, selecting their paint colors and letting the pendulum do its work. They love watching the bottle change directions as well as see how each paint will come out.

The students were super excited to see the supplies arrive! They wanted to get started right away but due to other requirements we had to wait. I set up the tri-pod one morning to peak their interests. We watched a few videos of other people using the pendulum painting and even watched a TED Talk about an artist.

Many of the students have not yet had a chance to complete a pendulum painting but we are working on it. We will have paint left over that we will use to create many more art projects as I really value art in the classroom.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Pinz

What a wonderful transformation the Scholastic Arts Magazines have made to my ability to share historic and contemporary artworks and concepts with my Art 1 students. With clearly written text and beautiful photographs we have studied Storytelling in Art and Alexander Calder. Integrating the reading in stages with art projects brings a depth to their complete experience of the concepts they learn.

I find that the students respond thoughtfully to the questions provided in the text in their journals and the Summarize worksheet provided is a good way for me to check for understanding of the reading. In a usually active classroom starting the class with quiet reading time is a significant break from routine and gives those in my class time to absorb the scope of how art is considered in our cultural life.

Seeing the students' work is always the most rewarding thing to me and I am finding the exposure to the ideas in the magazines allows students to more fully incorporate ideas in their work. I have already included another subscription for another year in my budget plans for next year.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Iyall

Steven Pinker said it best, "There is no society ever discovered in the remotest corner of the world that has not had something that we would consider the arts. Visual arts - decoration of surfaces and bodies - appears to be a human universal." Steven Pinker

What a remarkable experience watching our school transform with beautiful murals. Because of support, we are transforming our campus! Students walk with their heads held high because they have a school that they can be proud of. Thank you so much for investing in my visions as well as my students!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Foister

You all have brightened our building in more ways than one. thank you for all of your assistance in bringing a new mural to our school. Everyday our students are reminded that there are individuals in the world who love and support them, without ever having met them. We have a renewed sense of school spirit and pride because of you! Astronaut Mae Jemison stated, "The difference between science and the arts is not that they are different sides of the same coin even, or even different parts of the same continuum, but rather, they are manifestations of the same thing. The arts and sciences are avatars of human creativity." Creativity at BMS has reached a new level because of you!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Thompson

Thank you so much for your generous gift! We are using the Nikon D5500 to change the way the way we cover events on campus and to allow students to share their stories and opinions on important issues. Prior to your donation we didn't have enough cameras to allow students much opportunity to create the type of content they wanted, but now we are well on our way to accomplishing our goals.

The Nikon D5500 is an awesome camera, shooting high quality still photos, but it is also capable of shooting high quality video. Right now we are in the process on learning how to fully use this camera and to take advantage of the many incredible features it has. Even though it is a highly technical device, students are enjoying learning about how to use it effectively.

In the short time we have had the camera we have used it to cover a multitude of student events on campus. One project we are using the camera on is having students who have recently immigrated to the US tell their immigration story. Their experiences are incredible!

Our students are so thankful they made this short video (you may have to cut and paste):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y41Ryu2IsD0&feature=youtu.be”

With gratitude,

Mr. Owens