I had an eventful end to an eventful second week. First I was approached by the student editor of the school newspaper to be interviewed about something I love to talk about, my career, my art and how I got to where I am, but I think it was a ploy, it seemed like she has a crush on me. She recorded my responses with her iphone and there was a funny moment when I stopped talking and instead of a new question I noticed her staring up at me dreamily. I have been trying so hard to be a dorky teacher to avoid such a thing, but apparently not hard enough.
I wanted to start my weekend right away, but after the interview I had to first try on my gown for the commencement ceremony in May. I hold a masters degree and therefore more student loan debt, so I get the kind that has dangly extensions coming off the sleeves! In all seriousness, I am honored to be invited to the event, which I think will be held at Clowes Hall.
Considering I'm an interim teacher whose only been a part of the staff for a few weeks, they could have easily overlooked me, but they didn't. I'm excited for the seniors who are graduating and going on to college. It takes me back to that time in my life when I stepped out into the world alone for the first time. I was almost overwhelmed by all the new possibilities. Life can still be overwhelming sometimes, but in the years since I've learned to embrace that feeling.
The final item of note from the week was an email I received from Mr. Gilchrist just before I left for the weekend. The subject of the email said breif observation. It was in regards to the 15 minutes he sat in on my class earlier in the week. He wants to sit down with me and Mr. Harris to, "See how things are going." I don't think there is any reason for this foreboding sense of dread in the pit of my stomach, but nevertheless I'm sure I will fret about it all weekend . . .
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Friday, March 18, 2016
The Indianapolis Art Center
I graduated from Herron School of Art in 2009 with a bachelor's in Art Education. I had no luck at first in the job search. Each interview I went to was just more disappointment. I was caught in that trap that many college graduates have to overcome . . having an education, but no experience yet. You might be asking, "But isn't there a teacher shortage?" Yes there certainly is now, but this is before the situation really got ugly. All I knew was that I love teaching art and I wanted a job where I could grow professionally. I tried very hard for an opportunity at the Indianapolis Art Center.
I had two interviews there, but I did not get either job. I was beginning to get discouraged, but they offered me a job teaching in their ArtReach department. This is the arm of the Art Center that addresses education and community outreach. It was good work, but not enough to pay the bills on. I taught various multi-cultural lessons in public libraries throughout the city. Sometimes I would fill in for other instructors if they had to miss one of their workshops. Our audience range for these workshops is kindergarten to full grown adults.
The workshops were fun, creative and educational. I thought of myself as a hired hitman, going out in to the community with large totes full of art supplies. I ended up teaching a ton of lessons that did not necessarily fit within my skill set, but if something came along I took it, because I couldn't turn down the money or the continued employment that I knew would look good to future employers. ArtReach is where I honed my craft and developed my special power of fake it 'til you make it. There is still so much I don't know, but now there is hardly anything that intimidates me.
Any time there was a festival or event going on in the public and the Art Center needed a person with enthusiasm I would be one of the people they thought of, but when I got hired to teach at Chapel Hill in Wayne full time, I had to step aside from my work with the Art Center. From time to time I would still help out with something. I was offered a position to teach in the summer ArtReach program just to keep me on board. It's basically arts enrichment. We're contracted to provide this as a service for churches, schools and community centers. The last thing a teacher wants to think about is using their summers to teach, but it was enjoyable and gave me some extra money.
Michelle and Kat are my Art Center bosses. They put me back to work when I returned from my master's program in Cincinnati this past fall. I had left Chapel Hill and wasn't sure what to do with myself. I got involved again with ArtReach, but it was clear that that was no longer what I wanted to do. It kept me going for a little while, and working in my profession, but I needed more. I found out about the Insider Art program, working with juveniles being tried as adults in Marion County jail. That was always a dream of mine, but it was only a handful of teaching dates. I signed up to become a life coach, but that's on a voluntary basis! I was really hurting for full time employment. Kat was the one who tipped me off about Herron. She heard about the opening, because it's where her son goes to school, who is a phenomenal kid. I submitted my resume on the finest resume paper the very next day and the rest is history.
I couldn't say no, when again I was offered some pop up workshops to teach. These take place at the Art Center and the participants are usually adults. They're convenient, creative and affordable. It is much easier than signing up to take a twelve week class. These pop ups are only a couple of hours long, and the participants walk away with a piece of art. This is an ideal way for a person to test whether they want to take more classes at the Art Center. Friday was the first one I have taught, Linocuts. This is an area that I am really good at. I had seven adults in attendance, all eager to learn and make something beautiful. The result was amazing. We went over on our time, because everyone was so hard at work. As we were cleaning up, I received some compliments on my presentation and the workshop overall. The participants were really satisfied with the outcome. As I was packing up to leave it occurred to me that I would not be half the teacher I am right now without the Indianapolis Art Center.
I had two interviews there, but I did not get either job. I was beginning to get discouraged, but they offered me a job teaching in their ArtReach department. This is the arm of the Art Center that addresses education and community outreach. It was good work, but not enough to pay the bills on. I taught various multi-cultural lessons in public libraries throughout the city. Sometimes I would fill in for other instructors if they had to miss one of their workshops. Our audience range for these workshops is kindergarten to full grown adults.
The workshops were fun, creative and educational. I thought of myself as a hired hitman, going out in to the community with large totes full of art supplies. I ended up teaching a ton of lessons that did not necessarily fit within my skill set, but if something came along I took it, because I couldn't turn down the money or the continued employment that I knew would look good to future employers. ArtReach is where I honed my craft and developed my special power of fake it 'til you make it. There is still so much I don't know, but now there is hardly anything that intimidates me.
Any time there was a festival or event going on in the public and the Art Center needed a person with enthusiasm I would be one of the people they thought of, but when I got hired to teach at Chapel Hill in Wayne full time, I had to step aside from my work with the Art Center. From time to time I would still help out with something. I was offered a position to teach in the summer ArtReach program just to keep me on board. It's basically arts enrichment. We're contracted to provide this as a service for churches, schools and community centers. The last thing a teacher wants to think about is using their summers to teach, but it was enjoyable and gave me some extra money.
Michelle and Kat are my Art Center bosses. They put me back to work when I returned from my master's program in Cincinnati this past fall. I had left Chapel Hill and wasn't sure what to do with myself. I got involved again with ArtReach, but it was clear that that was no longer what I wanted to do. It kept me going for a little while, and working in my profession, but I needed more. I found out about the Insider Art program, working with juveniles being tried as adults in Marion County jail. That was always a dream of mine, but it was only a handful of teaching dates. I signed up to become a life coach, but that's on a voluntary basis! I was really hurting for full time employment. Kat was the one who tipped me off about Herron. She heard about the opening, because it's where her son goes to school, who is a phenomenal kid. I submitted my resume on the finest resume paper the very next day and the rest is history.
I couldn't say no, when again I was offered some pop up workshops to teach. These take place at the Art Center and the participants are usually adults. They're convenient, creative and affordable. It is much easier than signing up to take a twelve week class. These pop ups are only a couple of hours long, and the participants walk away with a piece of art. This is an ideal way for a person to test whether they want to take more classes at the Art Center. Friday was the first one I have taught, Linocuts. This is an area that I am really good at. I had seven adults in attendance, all eager to learn and make something beautiful. The result was amazing. We went over on our time, because everyone was so hard at work. As we were cleaning up, I received some compliments on my presentation and the workshop overall. The participants were really satisfied with the outcome. As I was packing up to leave it occurred to me that I would not be half the teacher I am right now without the Indianapolis Art Center.
The case of the stolen laptop
Since I was hired to teach at Herron, I've been hauling not one, not two, but three bags around all the time. There's my book bag which contains unit binders as well as my lunch box, thermos and other loose items. A gym bag full of clothes, and lastly a messenger style bag that holds my journal, day planner, library book and the laptop I was issued by the school.
Every day has been a long one. I've been going in to school early for office hours and meetings, whether I am required to be there or not. I've been hitting the gym either before I go in or in the morning before I teach. Once school let's out I go straight to one of my three part time jobs. Somehow in the midst of all this I have also managed to find a way to take care of my poor dog.
With all of that being said, I hope you can understand that when I arrived to my mother's house on Wednesday night at around ten, weighted with all of these belongings and a hamper full of laundry, I just could not seem to muster the strength to extend one finger to lock my Jeep. I almost never leave my car unlocked. I spent the night there and when I tried to leave the next morning I noticed that all of the contents of my gym bag had been dumped out and someone had rifled through the glove box. The theif made off with the laptop, but nothing else. Don't ask me why it was in my gym bag instead of the messenger bag and don't ask me why I left it in there. My sister also lost a circular saw from her car.
The crook could have gotten several other things that would have been much harder to replace: my checkbook, baseball glove, and an external hard drive that only contains every document and powerpoint presentation that I've ever created during my teaching career, but all of that has no street value and so he left it. It was more inconvenient than anything that I had to go back into the technology office, explain what happened, and then wait to be reissued a new one after only one week with the last one. Plus I was late to school because I had to pack all of my stuff back into my bag.
Southport is where my mom and sister and family live. It is considered to be a decent community, however I was not surprised that I got hit. There have been similar incidents in the past, and it's still Indianapolis. Luckily Mrs. Browning had another laptop to give me, and she said that it would just be written off, because there's nothing we can do about it. We're not talking about a Macbook. These are outdated machines, but they get the job done. I was still concerned however that I would be charged for my negligience, but I was relieved when I found out that I would not be. At any rate, I was planning to file a report once I got the serial number from Mrs. Browning, but I didn't get the chance to do that.
As I was leaving practice I noticed that I had received a Facebook message from a lady I did not recognize. The message said, "Did you lose a laptop?" I replied, "Yes . . did you find it?" It turns out that she lives directly behind my family in a different sub division and she was also robbed. Apparently the thief had my laptop with him when he broke in to her car and forgot it! He got about $25 from her. She got my name from the login screen and said in thirty years of living in that neighborhood, she had never had a problem with crime. I went down to the police station to claim the laptop later that night!
I shared this story with the entire staff at our Friday professional development meeting and they were amused. I returned the second laptop to Mrs. Browning and told her it wouldn't happen again. I say that in the future I will not forget to take valuables out of my car, but I probably will. Over the years I've had my car broke in to numerous times. I am thankful that this time, thanks to dumb luck, everything worked out okay.
Every day has been a long one. I've been going in to school early for office hours and meetings, whether I am required to be there or not. I've been hitting the gym either before I go in or in the morning before I teach. Once school let's out I go straight to one of my three part time jobs. Somehow in the midst of all this I have also managed to find a way to take care of my poor dog.
With all of that being said, I hope you can understand that when I arrived to my mother's house on Wednesday night at around ten, weighted with all of these belongings and a hamper full of laundry, I just could not seem to muster the strength to extend one finger to lock my Jeep. I almost never leave my car unlocked. I spent the night there and when I tried to leave the next morning I noticed that all of the contents of my gym bag had been dumped out and someone had rifled through the glove box. The theif made off with the laptop, but nothing else. Don't ask me why it was in my gym bag instead of the messenger bag and don't ask me why I left it in there. My sister also lost a circular saw from her car.
The crook could have gotten several other things that would have been much harder to replace: my checkbook, baseball glove, and an external hard drive that only contains every document and powerpoint presentation that I've ever created during my teaching career, but all of that has no street value and so he left it. It was more inconvenient than anything that I had to go back into the technology office, explain what happened, and then wait to be reissued a new one after only one week with the last one. Plus I was late to school because I had to pack all of my stuff back into my bag.
Southport is where my mom and sister and family live. It is considered to be a decent community, however I was not surprised that I got hit. There have been similar incidents in the past, and it's still Indianapolis. Luckily Mrs. Browning had another laptop to give me, and she said that it would just be written off, because there's nothing we can do about it. We're not talking about a Macbook. These are outdated machines, but they get the job done. I was still concerned however that I would be charged for my negligience, but I was relieved when I found out that I would not be. At any rate, I was planning to file a report once I got the serial number from Mrs. Browning, but I didn't get the chance to do that.
As I was leaving practice I noticed that I had received a Facebook message from a lady I did not recognize. The message said, "Did you lose a laptop?" I replied, "Yes . . did you find it?" It turns out that she lives directly behind my family in a different sub division and she was also robbed. Apparently the thief had my laptop with him when he broke in to her car and forgot it! He got about $25 from her. She got my name from the login screen and said in thirty years of living in that neighborhood, she had never had a problem with crime. I went down to the police station to claim the laptop later that night!
I shared this story with the entire staff at our Friday professional development meeting and they were amused. I returned the second laptop to Mrs. Browning and told her it wouldn't happen again. I say that in the future I will not forget to take valuables out of my car, but I probably will. Over the years I've had my car broke in to numerous times. I am thankful that this time, thanks to dumb luck, everything worked out okay.
The Acheans
A few months back, I got the news from Mr. Kendall, the athletic director at CHC that I would not be asked back to coach the 2016 baseball season with my best friend, Drew Hansgen. A new rule mandates that only teachers on staff shall be allowed to coach for Chapel Hill. I really wanted to see that group of kids go off to the high school level with a winning record and tons of great memories. I coached four seasons and I really wanted to make it five. The decision to release Coach Hansgen and I effectively drove the final nail into my service to Wayne Township, but I appreciate that Kendall broke the news to me early.
I was certainly disappointed, but I looked at it as a good thing. It would have been extremely difficult for me to get off work in time to hustle across town every day of the week to hold a two hour practice. Many of these practices end up getting canceled on short notice due to inclimate weather. The practice and competition schedule was always hectic, and I won't miss that. Plus the schedule, for some strange reason, was always laden with road games. Sometimes it would be nearly nine o'clock before I got home from our games. My dog would have to suffer long days without being let out to pee. Not being in the building on a daily basis as a teacher, I would have been out of the loop. There would have been less interaction between myself and other staff members so I would not have been as aware of the litany of discipline issues regarding my players as I was in the past. And that was something that consumed a great deal of my time, which is another thing I won't miss.
Here's some good news, Herron has a baseball team! If you are familiar with our campus, then you are probably wondering how this can be. Our three buildings and parking lot occupy approximately half of a city block. It is about as small as it can get. We're surrounded by homes, businesses and apartment buildings so there are no practice fields for our athletic programs to take advantage of. One thing I like about Herron is this is not seen as an obstacle. Our players trot out to MLK park every day, which is about a quarter of a mile away, and home games are played at Manual High School, which is located two miles south. We also have a track team, and a tennis team among others. The track team has to run down to Crispus Attucks High School for their practices and meets.
All I had to do was inquire with Mr. Hughes, the head coach and meet with Miss Wiggins, the AD on Thursday, and I was cleared to help coach The Acheans. They are two weeks in to their season, but have not played a game yet. As I said earlier, Herron doesn't see obstacles, but on the day of my first practice I recognized a couple. We had five players absent for a choir performance. A handful of the players have never played baseball before. And there is no diamond at MLK park, just an enormous field. I took some ground balls with the players, and it was pretty choppy. It was also chilly out, but despite the setbacks there were no complaints, as a matter of fact I would say that the players' demeanor was down right rosy.
I was impressed with Mr. Hughes' coaching style and I like his assistant, Joe Esposito from Toledo (I'm not making that up). After the outfielders got done shagging fly balls, one player remarked that they had caught more than ten for the first time. The infield was hardly any better. I took the liberty to give special instruction to the young man who will be playing second base. He is very much a beginner, but eager to learn, which he did and fast! I saw lots of improvement out of him in just one practice.
We ended with a run down drill that was absolutely hilarious! In a run down the objective is to get a runner caught between bases and tag him out in the least number of throws or at least run him back to his original base without letting him score. There is always one or two guys that want to run for the entire drill. This team is no different. The team captain volunteered himself to run back and forth while the fielders tried to figure it out. This poor kid got blasted in the back twice by errant throws. Luckily he was uninjured, but I almost hurt myself laughing so hard. These kids are surely going to need lots of work on that part of the game as well as others. Hopefully I can help them with that.
I was certainly disappointed, but I looked at it as a good thing. It would have been extremely difficult for me to get off work in time to hustle across town every day of the week to hold a two hour practice. Many of these practices end up getting canceled on short notice due to inclimate weather. The practice and competition schedule was always hectic, and I won't miss that. Plus the schedule, for some strange reason, was always laden with road games. Sometimes it would be nearly nine o'clock before I got home from our games. My dog would have to suffer long days without being let out to pee. Not being in the building on a daily basis as a teacher, I would have been out of the loop. There would have been less interaction between myself and other staff members so I would not have been as aware of the litany of discipline issues regarding my players as I was in the past. And that was something that consumed a great deal of my time, which is another thing I won't miss.
Here's some good news, Herron has a baseball team! If you are familiar with our campus, then you are probably wondering how this can be. Our three buildings and parking lot occupy approximately half of a city block. It is about as small as it can get. We're surrounded by homes, businesses and apartment buildings so there are no practice fields for our athletic programs to take advantage of. One thing I like about Herron is this is not seen as an obstacle. Our players trot out to MLK park every day, which is about a quarter of a mile away, and home games are played at Manual High School, which is located two miles south. We also have a track team, and a tennis team among others. The track team has to run down to Crispus Attucks High School for their practices and meets.
All I had to do was inquire with Mr. Hughes, the head coach and meet with Miss Wiggins, the AD on Thursday, and I was cleared to help coach The Acheans. They are two weeks in to their season, but have not played a game yet. As I said earlier, Herron doesn't see obstacles, but on the day of my first practice I recognized a couple. We had five players absent for a choir performance. A handful of the players have never played baseball before. And there is no diamond at MLK park, just an enormous field. I took some ground balls with the players, and it was pretty choppy. It was also chilly out, but despite the setbacks there were no complaints, as a matter of fact I would say that the players' demeanor was down right rosy.
I was impressed with Mr. Hughes' coaching style and I like his assistant, Joe Esposito from Toledo (I'm not making that up). After the outfielders got done shagging fly balls, one player remarked that they had caught more than ten for the first time. The infield was hardly any better. I took the liberty to give special instruction to the young man who will be playing second base. He is very much a beginner, but eager to learn, which he did and fast! I saw lots of improvement out of him in just one practice.
We ended with a run down drill that was absolutely hilarious! In a run down the objective is to get a runner caught between bases and tag him out in the least number of throws or at least run him back to his original base without letting him score. There is always one or two guys that want to run for the entire drill. This team is no different. The team captain volunteered himself to run back and forth while the fielders tried to figure it out. This poor kid got blasted in the back twice by errant throws. Luckily he was uninjured, but I almost hurt myself laughing so hard. These kids are surely going to need lots of work on that part of the game as well as others. Hopefully I can help them with that.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
First outdoor crit
Time is really moving fast as it always seems to. The current unit is coming to a close and spring break is a week away. Some how, some way I got through my first round of critiques without incident. We didn't have any arguments and not a tear was shed. There were only one or two students that did not get a chance to hear feedback because we ran out of time. Talking about art in a positive way is a specialty of mine and that's what I expected from them. Their performance was exemplory, so much so that critiques ran long. I think it is a sign of a good critique when the entire time is filled. I wanted contributions from every student, which did not happen. The quiet ones were not disruptive in any way; they just didn't feel like talking. That does not mean they weren't listening and getting something from it. I will generate ideas for activities on how to enhance participation in the future.
Wednesday was not the first, but one of the first days of splendid weather we have had so I decided to take a gamble by bringing one of my classes outside for their critique. I just could not help myself. It was as if I had some unseen force dragging me out of the building. We lined the paintings up on a short concrete wall that runs along the sidewalk on Talbott just yards from 16th Street. It was surreal to be conducting a class on the street corner where I used to live and have walked my dog so many times. The students as you might expect were beginning to get a little bit squirrely and distracted. I had to seperate a couple of them, but overall it went well. They knew if it did not go well that would cancel any future outdoor excursions.
As we were renentering the building a stranger on a bike who had been observing our critique, stopped one of my students (one of my former students from CHC). He wanted to give her kudos on her still life painting. The rest of my class was already walking in the door ahead of us and there was about two minutes before the last bell, so I had to cut him off. I did so without being rude. He was pleasant, but we did not know him and safety is my number one priority. This reminded me that teaching in an urban setting is different from teaching in a suburban one. Our campus is secure, but being downtown, there are strange people out and about every day and that is something to be aware of.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Pi Day and saving puppies
Things are really rolling right now and it's hard to keep up with all that is going on in my life . . . Benchmark exams are upon us. That will happen next week, but first we have to wrap up our current project, and then I have to grade a stack of folders. Half of the work in these folders are lessons and exercises that were completed before my arrival, so it will be a bit tricky to grade. I will be soft as usual. After benchmarks its straight in to spring break, which I don't feel that I will have legitmately earned, having only been employed at Herron for a few weeks, but time off is always welcome.
I am slowly getting access to the tools that I need to be successful. I have an I.D., a laptop, an email address, keys and now I even have a teacher's assistant! My T.A. has already proven herself to be indispensible. She did a lot for me during my morning office hour today. I sent her to Russell for a stack of handouts, she numbered the tables and wiped the countertops, she answered the phone which was ringing off the hook and she organized the totes, which contain the brushes and paints the students have been using on this project.
These brushes are brand new, but already look haggard. I can't be completely sure about this, but a student said the situation has worsened over the past week or so (on my watch). This is of course unacceptable, but they have been using them everday, so some of that wear and tear is natural. You wouldn't think that I would have to be hovering over their shoulders making sure they clean the brushes properly, but it is a now a situation that calls for my immediate attention. I told the students before that each time someone does not rinse out a brush thouroughly, somewhere in the world a person kicks a puppy, so don't let a puppy get kicked . . . apparently they don't care for small, cute animals, because puppies have been getting kicked all over the place.
Yesterday during 4th block a nerve-racking thing happened, the two assistants to the head of school, Mr. Gilchrist and Mr. Harris paid us an unexpected visit. I figure they want to keep me on my toes and see how I perform. Thankfully, I happened to be in the midst of a good teaching moment at the time . . at least in my own assessment. You never can tell what is going through the administrator's minds when they're visiting, especially Gilchrist who has a really good poker face. I mean the dude should be in Vegas. Whenever I have a principal drop by I just keep doing what I do. It's like the secret shopper program back when I was waiting tables. If you're always doing things right, you've nothing to worry about.
Yesterday was Pi Day (3/14). I was in the midst of showing an interesting powerpoint about Pi, when Gilchrist and Harris popped in. It wasn't part of Miss Hundt's itenerary, but I happened to have it stored on my hard drive, which I had with me in my bag. I created it at CHC on Pi Day last year as an interdisciplinary time killer. Consilience is the unity of knowledge, and I feel that this presentation is a perfect way to get that message across to my students. Math and Science actually do relate to Visual Art, as a matter of fact, all fields of study blend with eachother. I wish we wouldn't create divisions in education like we do.
I'll do my best to explain what the students saw, but I probably can't do it any justice. Martin Kryzinski is a scientist working in the field of bioinformatics, but he also uses software to illustrate the visual connection of scientfic and mathematical phenomena, such as Pi. He has a series of digital artworks that show Pi in different ways. You've probably seen some of these going around the internet on March 14th. Kryzinski will create a sequence or a formula of some kind and use that to plot the data, which of course we know is infinite. Each year he creates a new visualization of Pi using a new method (see below).
I am slowly getting access to the tools that I need to be successful. I have an I.D., a laptop, an email address, keys and now I even have a teacher's assistant! My T.A. has already proven herself to be indispensible. She did a lot for me during my morning office hour today. I sent her to Russell for a stack of handouts, she numbered the tables and wiped the countertops, she answered the phone which was ringing off the hook and she organized the totes, which contain the brushes and paints the students have been using on this project.
These brushes are brand new, but already look haggard. I can't be completely sure about this, but a student said the situation has worsened over the past week or so (on my watch). This is of course unacceptable, but they have been using them everday, so some of that wear and tear is natural. You wouldn't think that I would have to be hovering over their shoulders making sure they clean the brushes properly, but it is a now a situation that calls for my immediate attention. I told the students before that each time someone does not rinse out a brush thouroughly, somewhere in the world a person kicks a puppy, so don't let a puppy get kicked . . . apparently they don't care for small, cute animals, because puppies have been getting kicked all over the place.
Yesterday during 4th block a nerve-racking thing happened, the two assistants to the head of school, Mr. Gilchrist and Mr. Harris paid us an unexpected visit. I figure they want to keep me on my toes and see how I perform. Thankfully, I happened to be in the midst of a good teaching moment at the time . . at least in my own assessment. You never can tell what is going through the administrator's minds when they're visiting, especially Gilchrist who has a really good poker face. I mean the dude should be in Vegas. Whenever I have a principal drop by I just keep doing what I do. It's like the secret shopper program back when I was waiting tables. If you're always doing things right, you've nothing to worry about.
Yesterday was Pi Day (3/14). I was in the midst of showing an interesting powerpoint about Pi, when Gilchrist and Harris popped in. It wasn't part of Miss Hundt's itenerary, but I happened to have it stored on my hard drive, which I had with me in my bag. I created it at CHC on Pi Day last year as an interdisciplinary time killer. Consilience is the unity of knowledge, and I feel that this presentation is a perfect way to get that message across to my students. Math and Science actually do relate to Visual Art, as a matter of fact, all fields of study blend with eachother. I wish we wouldn't create divisions in education like we do.
I'll do my best to explain what the students saw, but I probably can't do it any justice. Martin Kryzinski is a scientist working in the field of bioinformatics, but he also uses software to illustrate the visual connection of scientfic and mathematical phenomena, such as Pi. He has a series of digital artworks that show Pi in different ways. You've probably seen some of these going around the internet on March 14th. Kryzinski will create a sequence or a formula of some kind and use that to plot the data, which of course we know is infinite. Each year he creates a new visualization of Pi using a new method (see below).
I read the explanation that went along with each of these and several more, but it didn't make much sense to any of us, which is okay. I have a saying, To be great, you don't have to know everything, but you have to be open to everything. Our conversation shifted to gravitational waves, black holes and the science fiction movie Interstellar, and this was all while the students were painting. It was awesome! I hope Gilchrist and Harris liked what they saw.
Monday, March 14, 2016
A great teacher illustrated
This NPR link relates to a previous post. Courtesy of my former sculpture professor in grad school, Mr. Keith Benjamin.
http://www.npr.org/2016/03/09/469097318/a-great-teacher-illustrated
http://www.npr.org/2016/03/09/469097318/a-great-teacher-illustrated
Friday, March 11, 2016
The toothpick challenge
Friday morning, I was talking with the lady who coordinates the substitute teachers at the weekly professional development meeting. She asked me on Thursday if I would be interested in earning extra money to be a sub on mornings when I'm not teaching. I of course agreed, and it wouldn't be long before I was subbing for the first time in my career. Mrs. Haulton who teaches 3D and ceramics overheard our conversation and seized the opportunity to have me sub for two of her classes that day. She looked flush indeed so I agreed to help her out. She took care of the necessary arrangements in a hurry and suddenly I found myself in her room with about five minutes before the students' arrival. I would be handling two critiques for her intro to 3D classes. I teach the same class and we have a critique coming up too, so I figured it would be good practice for me, plus I could use the money. I figure when it comes time to consider me for a full time position, the administration should certainly take note of this effort to help the school.
I was very impressed with the outcome of many of the toothpick sculptures. The hard work was evident, and we all enjoyed having the opportunity to celebrate this achievement. The feedback that the students shared was constructive and at times pretty insightful. I must say the critique was just about as successful as any that I have been a part of at the college level. My role was facilitator. I wanted the students to do the majority of the talking, but I of course made comments about each project. I was slightly concerned that the students would be unwilling to speak up, but thankfully that did not prove to be the case. Despite the fact that these students are not familiar with me they warmed up quickly. My encouragement, and supportive style put them at ease. They knew that this would not be a situation where they would be embarrassed. Even the one student whose project was still in several pieces got something from the critique.
My 3D class block three took place over in the main building directly after Mrs. Haulton's classes. I barely made it on time going against the flow of traffic during passing period. My class is a tad behind and I told them that there would not be enough time on Friday to get through all of them, so no critique. A large handful of students breathed a sigh of relief, because they were far from finishing. However, there were many students whose projects were ready for critique. What would I have them do for an entire block? I came up with the perfect solution. Thinking of toothpicks reminded me of self proclaimed toothpick engineer, Stan Munro. I used to show this Youtube clip of him talking about his work to my middle school students. Stan worked for a museum in Syracuse, NY erecting skyscrapers and world monuments from toothpicks, dozens of them combined into one marvelous city, and all to scale. It all started for Stan in high school, when his teacher challenged him to build a structure form toothpicks that could support the weight of several textbooks. The result held the weight of his desk.
I divided the students that were finished with their projects as well as their written self reflection handouts in to five groups of four. Each student counted out 50 toothpicks. The guidelines were that they could combine their toothpicks to collaborate on a project using only toothpicks and hot glue, but they did not have to use all 200. I wanted the textbooks to be elevated at least a half inch off their desks. To the group whose project could support the most weight without collapsing, I told them I would buy them a pizza. This spurred the stragglers to get caught up and finished with their projects so they could join in, and I could work with them one on one while the groups were occupied with the challenge so it was productive and fun.
The first group had the advantage from the beginning, because they were comprised of four go-getters that finished their work efficiently and on time. They engineered an outstanding support structure, and lo and behold they won. They each made about a dozen identical pyramidal units and then combined them to make a solid base. They were very systematic and organized in their approach. The fourth group did not work as well together. Their group was comprised of four students whose projects were completed, but without as much care or attention to detail. It appeared that only two of the students in this group actually contributed to the outcome. The other two just made a mess. The result was very sloppy. They lined about a dozen toothpicks side by side and sandwiched it with gobs of hot glue, and they continued to stack more layers until it was a half inch high. It looked like an artificial s'more. I could not fault them though, they technically followed the rules, and their creation held the same weight as group one. I will award the pizza to group one and think of something else to do for the other group.
As for group two, they made what looked like six-sided stars. They stacked their toothpicks and applyied hot glue in the corners until they achieved the necessary height, but there was a flaw in this design. The space between the layers compressed under the weight, and the textbooks were no longer elevated high enough to qualify, so they lost, but I applauded their effort. Group three created four support beams from bundled toothpicks, but they wasted too much time settling on a design, and had to rush to the finish line. Their collaboration was the only one that collapsed. Group five came up with a design similar to that of group one, so they changed it up mid way through, and they also had the misfortune of being the group with the least amount of time to work on it. All of the groups that lost were good sports about it.
I was very impressed with the outcome of many of the toothpick sculptures. The hard work was evident, and we all enjoyed having the opportunity to celebrate this achievement. The feedback that the students shared was constructive and at times pretty insightful. I must say the critique was just about as successful as any that I have been a part of at the college level. My role was facilitator. I wanted the students to do the majority of the talking, but I of course made comments about each project. I was slightly concerned that the students would be unwilling to speak up, but thankfully that did not prove to be the case. Despite the fact that these students are not familiar with me they warmed up quickly. My encouragement, and supportive style put them at ease. They knew that this would not be a situation where they would be embarrassed. Even the one student whose project was still in several pieces got something from the critique.
My 3D class block three took place over in the main building directly after Mrs. Haulton's classes. I barely made it on time going against the flow of traffic during passing period. My class is a tad behind and I told them that there would not be enough time on Friday to get through all of them, so no critique. A large handful of students breathed a sigh of relief, because they were far from finishing. However, there were many students whose projects were ready for critique. What would I have them do for an entire block? I came up with the perfect solution. Thinking of toothpicks reminded me of self proclaimed toothpick engineer, Stan Munro. I used to show this Youtube clip of him talking about his work to my middle school students. Stan worked for a museum in Syracuse, NY erecting skyscrapers and world monuments from toothpicks, dozens of them combined into one marvelous city, and all to scale. It all started for Stan in high school, when his teacher challenged him to build a structure form toothpicks that could support the weight of several textbooks. The result held the weight of his desk.
I divided the students that were finished with their projects as well as their written self reflection handouts in to five groups of four. Each student counted out 50 toothpicks. The guidelines were that they could combine their toothpicks to collaborate on a project using only toothpicks and hot glue, but they did not have to use all 200. I wanted the textbooks to be elevated at least a half inch off their desks. To the group whose project could support the most weight without collapsing, I told them I would buy them a pizza. This spurred the stragglers to get caught up and finished with their projects so they could join in, and I could work with them one on one while the groups were occupied with the challenge so it was productive and fun.
The first group had the advantage from the beginning, because they were comprised of four go-getters that finished their work efficiently and on time. They engineered an outstanding support structure, and lo and behold they won. They each made about a dozen identical pyramidal units and then combined them to make a solid base. They were very systematic and organized in their approach. The fourth group did not work as well together. Their group was comprised of four students whose projects were completed, but without as much care or attention to detail. It appeared that only two of the students in this group actually contributed to the outcome. The other two just made a mess. The result was very sloppy. They lined about a dozen toothpicks side by side and sandwiched it with gobs of hot glue, and they continued to stack more layers until it was a half inch high. It looked like an artificial s'more. I could not fault them though, they technically followed the rules, and their creation held the same weight as group one. I will award the pizza to group one and think of something else to do for the other group.
As for group two, they made what looked like six-sided stars. They stacked their toothpicks and applyied hot glue in the corners until they achieved the necessary height, but there was a flaw in this design. The space between the layers compressed under the weight, and the textbooks were no longer elevated high enough to qualify, so they lost, but I applauded their effort. Group three created four support beams from bundled toothpicks, but they wasted too much time settling on a design, and had to rush to the finish line. Their collaboration was the only one that collapsed. Group five came up with a design similar to that of group one, so they changed it up mid way through, and they also had the misfortune of being the group with the least amount of time to work on it. All of the groups that lost were good sports about it.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
The time I had a drink with Gary Miller
It is kind of ironic that on my first day of teaching at Herron, I have already encountered a challenging student, who lacks motivation. I was once that kid. It is a situation that must be handled with patience and understanding. These are key attributes for any teacher to have regardless of subject. I can think of several shining examples of what it takes to be a great art teacher. I try to take a piece from every one and bring that into my approach. Some of the teachers that I have witnessed and been inspired by include: Kathy Arduini, Dave Seward, Dr. Cindy Borgman and the late great Larry Hurt just to name a few.
I guess you could add Gary Miller to that list. He was my art teacher when I was a freshman in high school. Not too much stands out about him for me, except I remember he had a neatly trimmed gray mustache, he always said, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well," and I didn't cooperate much for him. I don't believe that I enjoyed Mr. Miller or his class, but to be fair, I didn't enjoy much about school in those days; I was very much in my I don't care phase. I'm sure he spotted that from a mile away, and I'm sure he had cracked many tougher nuts than me.
I was being immature one day when I should have been working, arguing with him about something. I don't remember what it was. Mr. Miller finally had enough and said, "Step out in the hall with me. I'll buy you a drink." I was confused because I had never had a teacher offer to buy me a drink before, and it didn't happen again until grad school. I wanted to appear tough so I didn't lead on that I was perplexed, and I followed the directive. Leaving his class unattended, we took a stroll and hung a right down the main hall of the art department. He said nothing. I wondered where we were going. Would he take me to a vending machine and buy me a coke? Would we hop in his car and go to the nearest bar for a round of beers? At the end of the hall was a drinking fountain. He coolly bent forward and took a long slurp, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and then motioned for me to go next. "Here have a drink on me," he said. So I took a drink, and then we returned from whence we came, neither one of us said another word. I did not disturb him again. I spent the remainder of that class period instead trying to figure out the meaning of his Jedi mind trick.
Soon I realized his purpose for doing this. He was pointing out that I was being immature and that he didn't care to waste anymore time arguing with me over silliness, either that or he was really concerned about my level of hydration. I like to think that while he hardly knew me, he understood me. And he had enough respect for me to let me gather it on my own without a lengthy lecture or a screaming session as my former geography teacher, Mr. Strain once subjected me to. Mr. Miller lead me to the water and literally made me drink. Now I'm an art teacher myself and not a week goes by that I don't think about that time I had a drink with Gary Miller.
I guess you could add Gary Miller to that list. He was my art teacher when I was a freshman in high school. Not too much stands out about him for me, except I remember he had a neatly trimmed gray mustache, he always said, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well," and I didn't cooperate much for him. I don't believe that I enjoyed Mr. Miller or his class, but to be fair, I didn't enjoy much about school in those days; I was very much in my I don't care phase. I'm sure he spotted that from a mile away, and I'm sure he had cracked many tougher nuts than me.
I was being immature one day when I should have been working, arguing with him about something. I don't remember what it was. Mr. Miller finally had enough and said, "Step out in the hall with me. I'll buy you a drink." I was confused because I had never had a teacher offer to buy me a drink before, and it didn't happen again until grad school. I wanted to appear tough so I didn't lead on that I was perplexed, and I followed the directive. Leaving his class unattended, we took a stroll and hung a right down the main hall of the art department. He said nothing. I wondered where we were going. Would he take me to a vending machine and buy me a coke? Would we hop in his car and go to the nearest bar for a round of beers? At the end of the hall was a drinking fountain. He coolly bent forward and took a long slurp, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and then motioned for me to go next. "Here have a drink on me," he said. So I took a drink, and then we returned from whence we came, neither one of us said another word. I did not disturb him again. I spent the remainder of that class period instead trying to figure out the meaning of his Jedi mind trick.
Soon I realized his purpose for doing this. He was pointing out that I was being immature and that he didn't care to waste anymore time arguing with me over silliness, either that or he was really concerned about my level of hydration. I like to think that while he hardly knew me, he understood me. And he had enough respect for me to let me gather it on my own without a lengthy lecture or a screaming session as my former geography teacher, Mr. Strain once subjected me to. Mr. Miller lead me to the water and literally made me drink. Now I'm an art teacher myself and not a week goes by that I don't think about that time I had a drink with Gary Miller.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Size me for my ring
Monday, day one in my official capacity. Feeling oddly confident, when I should have been a lot more nervous. At this point I was not sure if I even totally understood the objective, but Miss Hundt's preparation was very detailed, and plotted out through the end of the year, so as long as I follow this to a tee, I can't go wrong. It dawned on me that I will only be teaching in the afternoons. My mornings are almost completely free and clear, except for before school office hours, twice a week and our Friday professional development. This gave me a huge chunk of time to get acquainted with the facilities and observe other subject areas. I witnessed Latin, AP World History, Government, Algebra, Chemistry, and Ceramics. Can you guess which was my favorite?
Familiarizing myself with a new age group is going to be a process. I'm accustomed to middle school aged students. In my head I have pictured high school students as young adults, which they certainly are, but what struck me on this day is just how immature they still are. When I was observing Mr. Bilbrey's World History class, I noticed a corpulent young man in the back of the class, slouched in his chair, only half listening to the lecture, holding a pen that had been gnawed into oblivion. Mr. Bilbrey showed a slide entitled Demographic Indicators of Life Expectancy. One indication of how long a person could be expected to live is the teacher / student ratio in their home country. Mr. Bilbrey supported this, by talking about his friend who teaches in Lawrence. He said a typical classroom size for her is upwards of 30 and even as high as 42. "There are 24 students in this classroom right now, and even that is borderline too many," explained Mr. Bilbrey. At that moment the aforementioned student perked up, made a motion toward the door as if he were about to leave and said, "So get outta here!" I also had a good chuckle at Mr. Hughes' Science humor when a student asked, "Do you have any hand sanitizer?" He said, "No, but I have nitric acid."
When fourth block finally came around it was my turn to shine, and I felt ready to go. The students are practicing monochromatic still life paintings. The introduction went smoothly and almost every student worked diligently. The least productive student proved to be a bit of a thorn for the entire block. He had a tiny tuft of hair tied up with a rubber band on top of his head, and I made some man bun jokes. My warnings about not being inclined to write bathroom passes apparently did not register with him. He did not ask to go to the bathroom, but did request to go to the clinic for asprin because he had a headache. I said maybe your man bun is pulled too tight. In an attempt to stall him until even he could see that it would be pointless to miss class time with it being so close to the end of the day, I had him show me his progress, I am being generous to say that it was meager. I gave him an extended one-on-one tutorial, and as I proceeded down the isle to assist another student, conveniently forgetting his original request I could hear one girl who sits at his table say to another girl, "He's a really good teacher."
The student with the headache persisted and all but shut down. This is typical behavior for middle school, but that was one short year ago for him. Now I could have said no outright, knowing that he might complain to his mom, or I could relent and risk having my authority called into question on day one. I elected to take him aside, write him a pass, and explain to him that this would not be an everyday thing and that he must hurry back. It did not appear to have a detrimental effect, and he indeed hurried right back. I figure a well placed email to his parents might help him to see that art is not a knock off course.
At the end of the day as I was recapping with Mr. Renwick we were pulled in to the corner office. Mr. Renwick is one of four staff members who have worked at Herron all ten years, including Head of School Mrs. McNeal. They are all purchasing rings along with the seniors to commemorate this occasion. The spirit in the room was jovial and it occurred to me that I was the least tenured staff member sitting a room with the four who have the most, so I said, "Hey where's my ring?" We laughed and Mrs. McNeil said, "I think you'll fit in well around here."
Familiarizing myself with a new age group is going to be a process. I'm accustomed to middle school aged students. In my head I have pictured high school students as young adults, which they certainly are, but what struck me on this day is just how immature they still are. When I was observing Mr. Bilbrey's World History class, I noticed a corpulent young man in the back of the class, slouched in his chair, only half listening to the lecture, holding a pen that had been gnawed into oblivion. Mr. Bilbrey showed a slide entitled Demographic Indicators of Life Expectancy. One indication of how long a person could be expected to live is the teacher / student ratio in their home country. Mr. Bilbrey supported this, by talking about his friend who teaches in Lawrence. He said a typical classroom size for her is upwards of 30 and even as high as 42. "There are 24 students in this classroom right now, and even that is borderline too many," explained Mr. Bilbrey. At that moment the aforementioned student perked up, made a motion toward the door as if he were about to leave and said, "So get outta here!" I also had a good chuckle at Mr. Hughes' Science humor when a student asked, "Do you have any hand sanitizer?" He said, "No, but I have nitric acid."
When fourth block finally came around it was my turn to shine, and I felt ready to go. The students are practicing monochromatic still life paintings. The introduction went smoothly and almost every student worked diligently. The least productive student proved to be a bit of a thorn for the entire block. He had a tiny tuft of hair tied up with a rubber band on top of his head, and I made some man bun jokes. My warnings about not being inclined to write bathroom passes apparently did not register with him. He did not ask to go to the bathroom, but did request to go to the clinic for asprin because he had a headache. I said maybe your man bun is pulled too tight. In an attempt to stall him until even he could see that it would be pointless to miss class time with it being so close to the end of the day, I had him show me his progress, I am being generous to say that it was meager. I gave him an extended one-on-one tutorial, and as I proceeded down the isle to assist another student, conveniently forgetting his original request I could hear one girl who sits at his table say to another girl, "He's a really good teacher."
The student with the headache persisted and all but shut down. This is typical behavior for middle school, but that was one short year ago for him. Now I could have said no outright, knowing that he might complain to his mom, or I could relent and risk having my authority called into question on day one. I elected to take him aside, write him a pass, and explain to him that this would not be an everyday thing and that he must hurry back. It did not appear to have a detrimental effect, and he indeed hurried right back. I figure a well placed email to his parents might help him to see that art is not a knock off course.
At the end of the day as I was recapping with Mr. Renwick we were pulled in to the corner office. Mr. Renwick is one of four staff members who have worked at Herron all ten years, including Head of School Mrs. McNeal. They are all purchasing rings along with the seniors to commemorate this occasion. The spirit in the room was jovial and it occurred to me that I was the least tenured staff member sitting a room with the four who have the most, so I said, "Hey where's my ring?" We laughed and Mrs. McNeil said, "I think you'll fit in well around here."
Friday, March 4, 2016
First day teaching at Herron
I entered door one promptly at 8 a.m. I was told to follow Mr. Bilbrey, (a cyclist like me) to the Lyceum in the main building where the entire staff was assembled for their weekly professional development meeting. This was quite a way to break the new guy in, having to walk into a room full of teachers just about to begin a meeting. I tried to look as inconspicuous as possible as I sat down next to my department chair, Mr. Renwick. I knew I would like him right away, because he resembles Dave Grohl and was wearing a Wu Tang Clan T-shirt (there is a relaxed dress code on Fridays).
The sage on the stage for this meeting was Assistant Head of School, Mr. Gilchrist who was present for my interview just four days prior. Mr. Gilchrist, as you might imagine, being in such a high ranking position was impeccably dressed, no Wu Tang t-shirt. I enjoyed how he injected his dry, sarcastic humor into the meeting; it really served to lighten the mood. One teacher raised his hand and asked, "Can I ask a catch-up question?" Mr. Gilchrist responded with, "No, we only ask mustard questions here." One teacher spoke for a couple of minutes summarizing the efforts of his team on the recently completed ISTEP exam, praising them for their volunteerism and tireless dedication. As he concluded his remarks, Mr. Gilchrist, with a completely straight face asked, "Mm Hmm . . so what did YOU do?"
Mr. Renwick was my tour guide for the day. We started with the classroom in which I will be teaching, right next door to his. This is a feeling that I have now experienced twice, and it's a glorious one, that first moment that you step into your very own space and immediately begin to anticipate the creative projects that will happen and that memories that will be made. I will however be sharing this room with two other teachers.
I observed Mr. Renwick's advanced painting class and flooded him with a wide range of questions throughout the day. I am being thrown into the fire, so I must absorb as much as possible in a short span of time. I walked around and connected with students as much as possible. I was floored by the fact that I could speak to them using art terminology offering suggestions that could enhance their compositions, and they not only heard, but understood every single word of what I was saying!
Mr. Renwick and I had salads from the cafeteria in his classroom, and then I got a chance to finish the day by observing the one class that I will be teaching on A days, block four, Intro to 2D. As it turns out, there are two former students of mine on the roster and believe it or not, they are two of my favorites. Being an intro class, I will have mostly underclassmen. The age differential is evident, but they were still very well behaved. They are a little bit chatty, and their normal classroom teacher would prefer silence, but I will tolerate a low volume so long as they are being productive.
When I left for the day, the sun was shining with the promise of something new.
The sage on the stage for this meeting was Assistant Head of School, Mr. Gilchrist who was present for my interview just four days prior. Mr. Gilchrist, as you might imagine, being in such a high ranking position was impeccably dressed, no Wu Tang t-shirt. I enjoyed how he injected his dry, sarcastic humor into the meeting; it really served to lighten the mood. One teacher raised his hand and asked, "Can I ask a catch-up question?" Mr. Gilchrist responded with, "No, we only ask mustard questions here." One teacher spoke for a couple of minutes summarizing the efforts of his team on the recently completed ISTEP exam, praising them for their volunteerism and tireless dedication. As he concluded his remarks, Mr. Gilchrist, with a completely straight face asked, "Mm Hmm . . so what did YOU do?"
Mr. Renwick was my tour guide for the day. We started with the classroom in which I will be teaching, right next door to his. This is a feeling that I have now experienced twice, and it's a glorious one, that first moment that you step into your very own space and immediately begin to anticipate the creative projects that will happen and that memories that will be made. I will however be sharing this room with two other teachers.
I observed Mr. Renwick's advanced painting class and flooded him with a wide range of questions throughout the day. I am being thrown into the fire, so I must absorb as much as possible in a short span of time. I walked around and connected with students as much as possible. I was floored by the fact that I could speak to them using art terminology offering suggestions that could enhance their compositions, and they not only heard, but understood every single word of what I was saying!
Mr. Renwick and I had salads from the cafeteria in his classroom, and then I got a chance to finish the day by observing the one class that I will be teaching on A days, block four, Intro to 2D. As it turns out, there are two former students of mine on the roster and believe it or not, they are two of my favorites. Being an intro class, I will have mostly underclassmen. The age differential is evident, but they were still very well behaved. They are a little bit chatty, and their normal classroom teacher would prefer silence, but I will tolerate a low volume so long as they are being productive.
When I left for the day, the sun was shining with the promise of something new.
Herron: how did it come to be
I am in the midst of making a transition from teaching at the middle school level to teaching high school. I have been out of education (on a full time basis) since June. I am happy to say that Mr. Beal is back! I have seized an opportunity to teach at Herron High School, which has pretty much been a dream of mine since it became a charter school in 2006. Just one year after into my studies in Art Education at Herron School of Art (not affiliated). My position is on an interim basis, filling in for a teacher on sick leave, but it could become a full time position next school year.
I am part of the first class of artists to graduate from Herron, attending only the new building on campus at IUPUI. Those first few years we heard a lot of gripes from students who missed the rich character and charm of the old building at 16th and Pennsylvania, which was originally established in 1902. I always wished that I had the chance to experience it. Well now it is a four star charter high school with an excellent reputation, and now I teach there!
Herron has a classical approach to education, emphasizing the arts and Latin. It is Hogwarts like, similar to an academy, anchoring a noisy street corner in an historic part of a burgeoning metropolis. It is totally unlike my high school experience at Pike, which was a sprawling township school. There is no bus transportation provided to the students by Herron. They come from all over the Indianapolis area each morning. Some car pool, some drive themselves, some take public transportation, others ride their bikes or walk. Today I even saw a handful of students roll up on skateboards. The more time I spend on campus, the more I'm sure that I'm going to love teaching here.
It was with mixed emotions that I left my position at Chapel Hill in Wayne Township in 2015, but five years felt like the right time to make a change. I needed to focus on the completion of my master's at the Art Academy in Cincinnati, which is now in the past. For this reason and a handful of others, I had to make the move from the Herron / Morton neighborhood, to Irvington on the East side. That community has really become home for me and I absolutely love it, however I am now having to make a 15 minute daily commute to the immediate area that I used to call home for three and a half years. It's a new beginning in a familiar place.
I am part of the first class of artists to graduate from Herron, attending only the new building on campus at IUPUI. Those first few years we heard a lot of gripes from students who missed the rich character and charm of the old building at 16th and Pennsylvania, which was originally established in 1902. I always wished that I had the chance to experience it. Well now it is a four star charter high school with an excellent reputation, and now I teach there!
Herron has a classical approach to education, emphasizing the arts and Latin. It is Hogwarts like, similar to an academy, anchoring a noisy street corner in an historic part of a burgeoning metropolis. It is totally unlike my high school experience at Pike, which was a sprawling township school. There is no bus transportation provided to the students by Herron. They come from all over the Indianapolis area each morning. Some car pool, some drive themselves, some take public transportation, others ride their bikes or walk. Today I even saw a handful of students roll up on skateboards. The more time I spend on campus, the more I'm sure that I'm going to love teaching here.
It was with mixed emotions that I left my position at Chapel Hill in Wayne Township in 2015, but five years felt like the right time to make a change. I needed to focus on the completion of my master's at the Art Academy in Cincinnati, which is now in the past. For this reason and a handful of others, I had to make the move from the Herron / Morton neighborhood, to Irvington on the East side. That community has really become home for me and I absolutely love it, however I am now having to make a 15 minute daily commute to the immediate area that I used to call home for three and a half years. It's a new beginning in a familiar place.
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