The video below focuses on the Helping Hands program that I co-created here at Barwell. This video was featured on the Wake County Public Schools website in honor of National Mentoring Month. My friend and fellow mentor (Marc Hardy) did a great job of explaining what our program is all about!
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In honor of it's 50th birthday, the Raleigh Historic Development Commission posed the question: "What is your favorite OLD building in Raleigh?" In cooperation with Arts Together and the Marbles Kids Museum, RHDC hosted an arts contest inviting Raleigh's youth to answer that question. Winners were announced at RHDC's 50th Birthday Bash on Friday, November 2nd.
We are pleased to announce that two of our Barwell Bears received recognition in this contest!! Jim A won third place in the Elementary School category, and Kendall Williams won the People's Choice award for her art work which received the most votes among all students in the contest for her entry. At Barwell Road, all 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students worked on this drawing project that put emphasis on historic buildings here in Raleigh. Students learned concepts of how to add details to their drawings as well as essential fundamentals such as perspective. Students also learned the historic significance of the following buildings: The Briggs Hardware Building (the oldest building in Raleigh) The Capital Building Shaw University (founded in 1865 it is the oldest African American University in the South) The Mordecai House (birthplace of President Andrew Johnson) At the end of this unit students did literacy and writing assignments based on the buildings that they drew. http://www.rhdc.org/art-contest-winners This was one of my favorite units to teach this year, and the kids loved it because they created a work of art based on their favorite cartoon character. I designed this lesson so that I could incorporate math (how many animation cels are needed for a half hour cartoon), and current events (we held an election of what cartoon character we would make as a class) to supplement subject matter they were learning about in their classrooms.
I have always been intrigued with animation and how cartoons were made. When I stumbled upon boxes of overhead projector slides being thrown away, I knew I could recycle them into artwork. This experiment turned out to be one of the lessons that the kids were most excited about all year. Unfortunately, it seems that every generation witnesses or is impacted by a national tragedy at some point in their childhood (the Kennedy assassination, September 11th, the Sandy Hook shooting, etc.). Many of us watched these tragedies unfold on television sets in classrooms, we remember the candlelight vigils/moments of silence on the morning announcements, and remember the discussions of how to cope with tragedy. The memories of these events are carried with us for the rest of our lives.
The tragedy that impacted my childhood was the Challenger disaster. Most classrooms across America were tuning into the launch due that this mission was different than any other in NASA’s history. In 1985, Christa McAuliffe was selected from more than 11,000 applicants to participate in the NASA Teacher in Space Project and was scheduled to become the first teacher in space. For weeks leading up to the launch we were learning about NASA, outer space, and how McAuliffe was training to be an astronaut. On January 28,1986 my third grade class looked on in horror as the shuttle disintegrated 73 seconds after lift-off. Christa McAuliffe and six other crew members lost their lives that day. In memory of the Challenger crew and the 25th year anniversary of the launch, my third grade students created paintings of the shuttle. To start the unit, we discussed the history of the event and watched the actual launch. I was amazed at how this project really impacted the students, and bridged the gap between my classroom and home. Many of the student’s parents at Barwell are roughly about my age, and for many of my students this made for engaging conversation at the dinner table. I received several emails from parents explaining their memories of the event as well as how excited they were to see the artwork when it was completed. All of the projects turned out great. This was also my first time using a projector and document camera for doing step-by-step drawing instruction. This worked really well, and I will definitely be implementing this in many lessons to come. Dr. Robert Bridges (formerly the Wake County School Superintendent) started the Helping Hand program 27 years ago primarily focusing on the achievement gap, empowering parents for involvement, and managing suspensions by helping students to make positive choices. Wake County
Public School System still has this mentoring program named Helping Hands designed to save African American males at risk. Role models from the school and the community are paired with students in grade 3-8 who have the potential for success in school. |
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