Thanks for our Troops!

In the midst of all that is going on at school, we took time out of our busy day to design cards for the troops that have been stationed all over the world and away from home for the holiday season.  In conjunction with Q100's The Bert Show, who has requested help with getting a thank you letter for every solider that is stationed outside of the United States for the Thanksgiving holiday, that's about 400,000 letters, we are making our effort to get those letters to a deserving troop.  We at Rock Springs have just completed Pinwheels for Peace and talked about troops and all that they do for us to have freedom and peace and for others around the globe. We wanted to also join this effort to tell our soldiers we appreciate their efforts in keeping the peace and the fighting for freedom for us and others who need them to.  I am so proud of our students and hope they realize what a ddifference this letter can make for someone who can't be with their family for the holidays. What a great way to start the Thanksgiving holidays, who better to thank?

Pinwheels for Peace

So, Our students at Rock Springs were able to participate in an International Celebration that supports Peace around the Globe!  We participated last year but this year was a much bigger deal.  In remembrance of the 9/11 tragedies Pinwheels for Peace requested for those participating to place their pinwheels out early for a total of 10 days, from 9/11 to 9/21. The 21st was actually the International Day of Peace, but our Pinwheels whirled in the wind for those 10 days. We had a great time doing it and talked about Peace.  What is it, Why is it important, and how sometimes we have to sent soldiers and others to other places to help them fight or get Peace where they live.  It was a great chance for students to take time and have an appreciation for the wonderful country we live in and for the things we have in our life that help us to be healthy, happy, and productive members of a growing and diverse society.

Great thanks to the scouts that came up to school on 9/11 to help me put out our Pinwheels!  A great group of boys who were able to earn some community service time for helping with our fabulous Pinwheel display! Great Job guys!

Coming soon to our school! Original Works are back! Orders and art will be coming home soon!  Please, take the time to look over these! As they make for fabulous gifts for all occasions! There is even an Original Works gift card now! Please, keep your eye out for this to be coming home in the first week of October!
Look here for information as well. Please, send all orders back to school by the 14th,  Late orders will not be accepted...All works must be packaged for shipment by the 15th!

http://www.originalworks.com/

Struggle and Success go hand in hand!

Working to take more photos this year, but for some reason I am having trouble getting them to work with me easily to get them on the blog!  Keep your eyes peeled for some coming photos of things that are happening in the art room, most of these images can be found under each grade levels page as they arrive to the blog space.
Last week our school started the process of joining in on the International Day of Peace for the second time. In art we talked about Peace, what it is and how we can help to keep it... We talked about the people who are all over the world working everyday to help and the things we can do just at home and at school to help with this, because in the end, Peace is something that is a global concern but can be managed on a smaller scale within each of our lives. We looked at the International Pinwheels for Peace website and saw OUR SCHOOL on the map and how many other organizations and schools around the world are working on Pinwheels also to show their support for Peace. I has assistance from some fabulous parents at our school in getting all the Pinwheels constructed and prepared for their special placement outside our school, greatest thanks to those mothers and I hope they know how fabulous it was to have help! I was surprised by their willingness, I am sure lucky to have moms around to help! Even better our school effort for Pinwheels for Peace also reached to the interests of several of our students and their interests outside of school... @ generous scout troops not only participated in Pinwheel making but meet me at the school on a Sunday afternoon to help put all of them out in a most fabulous design.  Overwhelming how nice it felt for me, as an art teacher, to teach a fabulous life lesson, do a fun project, reach a global cause through local effort, help a scout troop earn community service hours, and at the end of the day also have a beautiful exhibit for our students to see and enjoy for 10 days! I am a proud and excited art teacher this week!
Also, coming soon is Science and Technology night, I have been working hard to get a few things pulled together for the Night in general for getting the final details of my very own science adventure pulled together! I like the excitement that is happening about learning and teaching this year! As a school we are working hard, but I have to say it is the most excited I have been about my teaching in a long time!  Just stay tuned in because I am amazed at the work that is coming out of my room and working to get it up on line to share with you!

Back to school is great! It's Busy!

Happy to be back and worried about the rate to which we are having to move this year! Lots going on and students are learning as we go that there is very little timeto spare, we must be learning and working from the moment we come in to the moment we leave! Please check out some pictures I have posted!