Symposium 2016

It was an honor to be included this year at Symposium. I think it is a splendid idea. This is one day in the spring when only the teachers gather at Herron to hold a special day of learning and professional development. If you're an educator reading this, you're probably thinking, "What's the big deal? Our school does this and it's boring and I hate it." I always have hated these types of things in the past too, but the philosophy behind Symposium is different from the usual mundane sit and get format.

Because Herron is so connected to the surrounding neighborhood, outdoor beautification is a big part of this initiative. At past Symposiums Herron faculty members have gone out to do yard work and plant flowers for some of the neighboring houses. Previously teachers collaborated to improve the school by building special projects and fixing things that needed fixing. And of course for each Symposium, breakfast and lunch are provided. Score! I couldn't wait to see what they had in store for us this year . . I wondered would it be bagels? Donuts?? Potato casserole??? They had all the above and Yats for lunch! Whoo-hoo!

With this being Herron High School's ten year anniversary, they decided to go with a theme of looking back. My department chair, Trevor Renwick attended Herron back when it was an art school and he's been one of the only teachers to teach at Herron the entire ten years since it has become a charter school. He is one of a small handful of people who can really speak to what this neighborhood is and what it was. He lead off this Symposium with a presentation of what Herron was like as an art school prior to leaving in 2005.

I'm a Herron grad myself, but I was part of the first crop of artists to attend the new building on the campus at IUPUI all four years. It was a gleaming new building that many people rightfully say has less character. I've heard stories that made me jealous of what the old Herron was like, but Trevor really took us back there. He began by saying that he had approval ahead of time to present the R rated version, but he didn't know our head of school, Janet McNeal would be in attendance. We all laughed and braced ourselves for what we knew would be an entertaining half hour or so . . .

Just to prep you, the once proud Herron Morton neighborhood where I now teach was down right awful for a few decades, especially during the late nineties when Trevor was an art student at Herron. There was grafitti everywhere, on all the walls inside the school and all over the place outside too. Back then it wasn't uncommon to hear somebody got mugged just getting out of their car to go to class. You had to be careful. There were many boarded up houses and vacant properties along 16th and Pennsylvania as well as Talbott Street. The neighborhood was full of drug attics and miscreants, bums and wayward vagrants, and of course art students.

Trevor shared a story of witnessing EMT's responding to a situation where a man had hung himself from a tree behind a house that is still there today, of course that house is no longer a crack den. One night he and some friends were eating pancakes at the IHOP, which is now a CVS, they were barely surprised when authorities arrived to remove a body from a dumpster out back. It was just the way things were, but that is no longer the case. The area is coming back and is currently experiencing a gentrification process. There are quaint shops, dining options and hip coffee joints, I'm sitting in one of those now. Most of the homes have been revived and property values are higher than ever, much higher than anything I can afford.

When the art school pulled out, it left a tremendous gaping hole in the community which bares it's name. That hole would soon be filled thanks in large part to Joanna Taft, our keynote speaker. Joanna and her husband had the idea to turn it into a charter high school, but had no idea how to go about it. With dogged determination, they found the necessary funds to establish Herron and thus spark a revival process in the neighborhood they live in and have loved for more than twenty years. Joanna is still on the board. She hired Janet McNeal who is still our head of school. They shared memories of the early days that inspired me and filled me with pride that I am a part of it now.

In those first few years, Herron had only about a hundred students. No one knew if this thing was going to work. There were trailor pods on the grounds outside because some of the rooms weren't quite up to code yet. Ten years later, we're now a nationally recognized, 4 star school with a 99% graduation rate. We've got more than 900 students and a long waiting list to get in. It really is remarkable to look back on what has been built. The most exciting part is they are planning to do it all over again in a new location in a similar neighborhood that is sorely in need of revival. It's still in the works so I really cannot blog about it. We visited this potential new location after lunch. It was the big finale of the 2016 Symposium. I can't wait to watch this happen all over again!

What would be the lunchroom of the new charter high school. Can't say where at the moment.

Emmaunel Harper speaking at Symposium

Head of School, Janet McNeal signing a stack of diplomas

Damn thing won't let me adjust this picture. But this is me exploring the site of our potential new school. It's top secret, but if you figure it out on your own then good for you . . . 

Jazz Band

Herron has a full jazz band consisting of 16 musicians, and they're pretty good (in my untrained opinion). Mr. Horgeshimer is their leader. He has done a remarkable job with this wiley bunch. All of them are boys, except for one girl who plays the trombone and the French horn (poor thing). Mr. H. had a family matter to attend to so I filled in for him today. I was told ahead of time that jazz band is perhaps the most difficult assignment that a sub could get . . because of the part where I said it's 16 high school students with noise-making devices and I am a substitute who knows practically nothing about music.

The instructions said basicallly to take attendance and then let Chester (not his real name) lead the group. My role on this day was to intervene only when needed. If the players did not want to listen to Chester, I was to make them listen. I laid down the law right from the beginning. I told them, "I don't know anything about music, but I know what good music sounds like, and I want to hear a lot of it being played today. Chester is in charge and you need to do what he says. Mr. H. will throw a fit if he gets a negative report from me." I would say they rose to the challenge.

After these remarks Chester practically shouldered me out of the way. He is a senior and has performed all four years he has gone to school at Herron, so he knows exactly what he's doing and he knows there's no time for fooling around. Chester is an awesome saxophone player, and a very bright student. He does not get a lot of respect from his peers however. The reason being . . well how to put this politely . . Chester is somewhat of a nerd.

It's a tall order for Mr. H, a seasoned instructor, to corral these teens into a decent band, let alone a nerd like Chester, but god bless him, Chester never lost his cool even though his bassist and his drummer openly mocked him and held side conversations most of the time. They rolled their eyes every time he gave directions and basically behaved like condescending jerks. He is fully aware of what his band mates think of him, but never backed down on this day and never seemed intimidated by the moment. Chester just kept leading, "Sammy you were a little flat on the third measure. Tommy don't be late when we hit that second part. You guys aren't playing with any energy." It was the most impressive display of leadership that I've ever seen from a student.

They wrapped with a fifteen minute improptu jam session, that sounded really good. And while I didn't leave a glowing report for the group as a whole, I did laud Chester's performance in a note to Mr. H. I found out later from an anonymous source that (at leaset in her opinion) it was the best behavior that that band had ever shown with a sub in the room.

Chess Club

Of all the surprises in my life and career, becoming a chess club sponsor would have to be near the top. Growing up I never had any interest in games that would stimulate my mind intellectually, unless it were a video game. A friend of mine retaught me how to play a few years back, and I got hooked. We had weekly matches before he moved away. I think I lost all but two of them. I'm still terrible at it, but I try to approcach life as a game of chess, anticipating moves, averting disaster, protecting the king, so on and so forth . . .

In 2014 when I was still teaching middle school I decided why not start a club? In retrospect, I was probably already too bogged down, but we hadn't had a chess club in many years, and I felt (and still feel) that it is an important thing for any school to offer. I didn't do it for the purpose of scoring brownie points with the administration, although I knew it would be something that could not be overlooked come review time. I did it because there were many students who needed a positive extra curricular opportunity and a new way to make friends.

I proposed this idea to my principal and she agreed to fund twenty new chess sets. To my surprise there were dozens of students interested in joining my newly created club. I think we peaked at around forty students out of a population of about 1,000. We gathered in the library on Thursdays after school. A couple other teachers joined not only to fulfill their mandatory service hours, but also because they enjoyed chess and wanted to share that with our students. When I quit that job, I left the club in good hands with them.

Fast forward to the beginning of my time as a teacher at Herron. I was shocked to find out that there was no chess club at this school either. All teachers are required to provide some sort of extra curricular opportunity, but my department chair said that being a long term sub, I wasn't expected to do this, but I did it anyway. I submitted a couple of announcements and at first I thought I was only going to have five or six members. But on the day of our first meeting 17 showed up!

We took the first meeting outside in the front lawn area in front of Russell Hall, known colloquially as the Museum building. The weather was absolutely perfect. Assistant Head of School, Mr. Gilchrist even poked his head out, shook my hand and congratulated me for putting this together so quickly.

Renaissance Man

As I said in my previous post I respect every single one of my students. And I get along with 99% of them. Every now and then one comes along that I actually admire. Desmond (not his actual name) is one such student. He is in his senior year, but he does not exhibit any signs of senioritis. From what I can tell he loves Herron and Herron loves him.

I first met Desmond when I had to step over him in the hallway just outside my classroom door. It was at the end of the school day and the students were exiting the building. Desmond was on the ground by his locker, squeling and gesticulating to amuse his buddies. I didn't know why he was doing this and I still do not know. It was my first week on the job and I wasn't sure if this was a behavior I should address. I looked over at Mr. Renwick who did not seem the slightest bit concerned by it, so I decided to just watch what was going on and pretty soon I was laughing too! Although he was being ridiculous we were laughing with Desmond and not at him. He is the type of kid who would do anything for a laugh one minute, and then talk politics, literature and art with you the next.

In my next post I'll talk about my newly created chess club, which Desmond was the second to sign up for. He wanted to be the first, but he was annoyed to find out that his fellow classmate beat him to the punch. We had our first visit yesterday after school and as Desmond introduced himself he said, "Hello my name is Desmond and if you don't know me, what's wrong with you?" And then he proceeded to explain that the only game of chess he's ever one came dubiously against his six year old brother. He has already risen to the top as a leader in our fledgling club by taking on the reigns of forming a Facebook page so everybody can keep in touch. I learned that he is applying to become an Eagle Scout and he even found time to help with my resume during our first chess club meeting.

I'm filling in as a substitute in other departments whenever I'm not teaching one of my classes. I've become the go to guy around the building for such needs. I'm hoping to prove that I'm worth keeping around. On Wednesday I had to fill in for a theatre teacher, which was a brand new experience for me. On the sub plans it said that two seniors were invited to join the class to do a dramatic reading from Samuel Beckett's famous play "Waiting for Godot". Not easy material for a beginner like myself. They were selected to do the reading because they performed it last year as juniors. Desmond was to be one of the performers. When I saw his name listed I knew it would be good and it was.

They read the dialogue impeccably and with dramatic flair. Afterward they opened it up to the class for a question and answer session. But only one student had any questions for them. It seemed like such a shame to have them come in to do this reading just for one question. Things were just about to dissolve so I took it upon myself to keep the readers in the room for a little longer. I started pelting them with questions. They swatted each one of my questions out of the park. We got right down to the heart of the play and I think everyone gained a better understanding of the theme. I was impressed; apparently Desmond is no class clown.

As I left the theatre classroom to head to my next mission I heard a piano coming from the next classroom over. I peeked in to see Desmond leading a group of his classmates in an impromptu sing-along. He continues to surprise. Desmond's zest for learning and for laugh is an inspiration. He'll go far.

RACLE

I respect each and every one of my students from the highest acheivers to the least cooperative ones, at least that's according to me, some of my students may not agree with that. Okay sure I can be hard on them when they disappoint me, but if anything I'm too soft. Just because I have a relaxed style does not mean I do not have high expectations. At Herron, at least thus far, I have not had trouble motivating the students. A large number of them are driven to succeed, some put forth just enough effort to get by and a very small percentage underperform, I had one of these in my crosshairs the other day.

There was a student who was doing more talking than he was working so I sternly redirected him to get back on task. I had a toothache that day so I probably came off as mean. He did not like my tone and muttered something as I turned to walk away. I pretended not to hear what he said. Teenagers are angsty by nature, and usually when something like that happens it won't go any further unless the student is provoked. I turned the other cheek, no further disruption, no big deal. However he did something the following class period that undermined my authority, which did trigger a response from me.

It was toward the end of the last class period for the day. There was an announcement made to hold all students at the bell, but I did not catch the whole message because I was in the midst of teaching. Apparently there was some kind of emergency and the fire department had to be called out. The administration made the decision to keep the students in their classrooms, because they did not want people flooding the scene, but no reason was given at the time of the announcement. The students did not appreciate being inconvenienced as indicated by their numerous exasperations. No one knew how long it would be. It only ended up being about three minutes.

The young man I spoke of earlier was the most upset about having to remain after the bell. He got up to leave of his own accord and I stopped him. He pointed at the window of the door and practically shouted, "Look! There's other people out in the hall! This was true, and I had no interest in arguing with him about it. I figured I probably got the message wrong and released the students. A few seconds later they were being herded back into the room, but he managed to be the only one to slip through the cracks and he never returned. I looked really bad for sending the students out.

That's what I get for giving him the benefit of doubt. I was pretty upset about this, but I know I have myself to blame mostly for allowing it to happen. After thinking it over, I decided I had to RACLE him. That stands for Recognize the mistake, Address it with the student, Correct the behavior, Log it in the system and Email the parents, but I did not assign a detention. It was my first RACLE and I didn't like having to do it, but I would do it ten times out of ten.

Update: The young man that I RACLE'd also happens to be a baseball player who at that point had missed the handful of practices which I attended as a volunteer coach. I realized this while on the phone with his mother. Rather than inform his coach right away I decided to have a little fun with him . . .

The next game was part of a double header against Howe High School less than a mile from where I live. It happened on a beautiful sunny Saturday and I had that morning off, well at least the first part of it. I walked on down with a couple of bags full of free pastries I got from my side job at Starbucks. I had croissants, coffee cakes, bagels and lemon pound cakes. My plan was to disperse these to the players in between games, which I did. I think he was quite surprised to see the teacher he disrespected by saying, "I don't care!" suddenly coaching first base.

They won the first game of the doubleheader and afterward coach Hughes had a few things to say to them about the win. He had them all gathered around on one knee. After he finished talking to them he let me distribute the treats. I began with the young man who received the RACLE and asked him, "Would you care for one?" He took one, and they won the second game and we haven't had a problem since.

12 Things Every Art Teacher Wants You to Know

12. Clay doesn’t belong in the sinks. The same goes for pencils, paint brushes, paper clips and whatever else happens to be small enough to fit down the drain.

11. We DO want your junk, but I say that with a caveat. I once did a call out email to all teachers for their junk, and the next morning sitting by my classroom door was a grocery sack with an empty plastic water bottle, a frozen dinner tray and some packing peanuts. Folks that’s not going to do much for me when I got a classroom with thirty kids (I mean don’t’ get me wrong it gave me some ideas).

11. An art room should not be silent. To some educators this is going to sound like I’m saying the Earth is flat or Donald Trump would make a fine president. Sure a certain amount of buzz may be noisy, but it also just might be . . . dare I say . . . the sound of engagement. Don’t get me wrong I like quiet just as much as the next teacher and silence is best during some activities, but humans are social animals, and last I checked kids are humans, as well as animals. I will talk more on this subject in an upcoming post.

10. Art is for everyone. Look around you, our society is becoming more and more diverse. The variety of cultures in schools should not be seen as an obstacle, but an opportunity to be inclusive and to become better global citizens. Where do we learn about culture? Well everywhere, but in school it’s mainly art and social studies.

9. We have paint on every item of clothing we own and that’s way we like it to be.

8. We are pleased to take on extra creative projects i.e. displays, bulletin boards, stage designs, etc. We will most likely say yes, because it’s for the good of the school. We just want you to understand that we also have a full load and we’re not sitting on our hands doodling. Speaking of Doodling . . .

7. Doodling keeps certain brains occupied. It doesn’t mean the student has checked out on the lesson. Yes they’re probably bored. For me, doodling gives my hands something to do and frees my ears to listen to what is being said so my brain can harness the information. If I can’t doodle I’ll most likely begin squirming like I have ants in my pants or fall asleep.

6. Art teachers are actual teachers like with degrees and everything!

5. We’re doing a hell of a lot more than finger painting Thanksgiving Turkeys. We are blasted all day every day with visual stimuli. Advertising comes at us from everywhere including our devices. We’re being marketed to constantly. But instead of increasing opportunities for our students’ to access, understand and contribute their own creative content, what do we do? We reduce it in favor of standardized testing and that baffles me. Art is the last bastion for hands on creative learning in most schools, which places a lot of pressure on the art teacher to feel like they have to justify their role and their very subject.

4. Being different is good. So you think you’re a misfit? You think you’re strange? Well strange = different =unique = creative = good. Most of the great achievers throughout history are also people that didn’t “fit in”.

3. There is no right or wrong in art class as I say, only good and better. Sure there are basics to know, but once you’ve got the fundamentals down, i.e. the principles and elements, you’re free to explore your own visual style. A good art teacher will make suggestions in an effort to inspire and encourage their students to make their own intentional choices in the art making process without it becoming the teacher’s work. I love the moment when a student did something that I would not have done and can say to me confidently, “That’s exactly the way I wanted it.”

2. You CAN draw. We art teachers are just as annoyed with hearing the gripes as an English or Algebra teacher would be. You just have a mental barrier to overcome. Either that or you haven’t learned how to see. If you’re trying to draw a thing, don’t get caught up in the detail right away. Break it down into its simplest shapes and lines and build upon that. That’s called working general to specific. It comes naturally to some, others have to learn it, but with practice you can be pretty decent at it. But don’t expect to become the next Rembrandt.

1. It’s great to create. Making something is as much a part of my day as brushing my teeth or scooping up dog poop. I don’t want to think of the emptiness that would ensue if that ability were suddenly taken away from me. I heard somewhere that being an artist is not just a way of life, but an existence. I like to think my existence is just as valid as any other person in any other profession. So let’s not stifle that in our children. If we do that then we’re taking something human away from them.

Procrastination

Coaxing work out of teens is an art in itself. I was prodding a kid today about his productivity or lack thereof. He looked up at me from his laptop and told me he plans to work from home on this one. I said I like your "Can Do LATER" attitude, but I'm from Missouri, the show me state. He got to work after that. With others the technology distraction is an insurmountable force. If I were savvy enough I would breach their firewalls and hack into their systems, seizing total control. Using a web cam I would present myself on the screen laughing maniacally like a sinister Bond villain. I would go in to an evil diatribe using a phony European accent, then the screen would go black. Muahahahaaahaaaah!!! Of course I'm typing this with about 15% of my stack of grading still to complete, and grades due today . . .

Striving for a better life

A couple of months ago I received an email from Strive Indy forwarded by Kat Toebes. Strive Indy is a volunteer organization that provides jobs, training, financial assistance, case management and therapy for ex-felons and adults with criminal histories residing in Marion County. They were looking for life coaches and somehow the email found it's way to me through the ArtReach department. I'm insanely busy, but I decided what the heck? I replied and pretty soon I was contacted by Kirsten Bush to come in, do a brief training session, and fill out some forms. That's how easy it was to become a life coach.

Kirsten started off the training session by showing me this interesting 60 Minutes story about juvenile delinquent elephants released from wild life parks in Africa (I posted a link to it below). These were adolescent elephants who grew up in human care without role models. Once released, these elephants created mayhem. They began attacking and killing white rhinos just for the fun of it. Federal wildlife officals came up with a number of ways to correct this and even literally brought in mature elephants to show them the right and wrong way to behave. Sadly, some of the elephants could not change the error of their ways and had to be put down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MeXIF0Ia8o

This lead us into a discussion about how a person can easily go off track and not have any idea how to fix it on their own. Sometimes all you need is someone to talk to about life, and that's what I intend to be for whoever I'm matched with. Once you receive a match you just basically get together once in a while to talk. You could get coffee, shoot hoops or play chess or something. The time commitment is very small. More people should be doing this . . .

It was about two weeks before I received a phone call from Kirsten saying she had a potential match for me. I came in and we met face to face. I would never divulge any information about my match's private life of course, but suffice to say he's a good guy who's had a lot of hard luck. Sure some of that is his own doing, but he acknowleges that. He's clean and sober and he really wants to make the necessary changes. He told me, "It's the fourth quarter and I've got five fouls." As he was talking about his troubles I couldn't help thinking to myself what the hell am I doing here? I'm the one who could use the life coach! But I just sat and listened to his story. It was as if he got to remove a lead vest for about an hour. 

As the meeting came to a close he told Kirsten that he approved of me and would see me again. If only my dating life went this smoothly! He said he'd be in touch, and I gave him a hug. He was pleasantly surprised by this gesture. I think it showed him that he's not alone and that there is somebody who truly cares. If I should ever leave the teaching profession I think I would explore the idea of making a career in counseling. I was filled with a positive feeling, which continued throughout the day and it inspired me to write this poem . . .

I Care

Out across the vast open space in the distance

You take a look at your wretched life and it's twisted

And you kick yourself in the butt

And you try to keep up

And you tried to find help

But you haven't had luck

I know man, I've been dealt the same bad hand

And I can honestly say, I understand

I understand a whole lot and I care

You may not think there's anyone for you, but I'm there.