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Anne Arundel County Public Schools, MD / Parent's Corner / 1 May 2019
Anne Arundel County Public Schools, MD / Parent's Corner / 1 May 2019
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From YouTube: Parent's Corner May 2019

Description

Shelley has a discussion with Eleni Dykstra, Coordinator Visual Arts, AACPS about art programs and major art exhibits throughout the year.

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Today, on parent's corner, a conversation about art with eleni dykstra., (triumphant music),.

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A conversation about art with eleni dykstra,.

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Coordinator of visual arts. thank you, eleni,, so much for coming today., it's great to see you.

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before we get started,. I thought it might be nice for parents just to hear a little about who you are.

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And what you do.

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Hi shelley,, thanks for having me., I started teaching back in 1991 in baltimore county,.

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Where I met my husband and taught in baltimore county.

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For 14 years and then, as we began to raise our family,.

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We both moved to anne arundel county so that we could.

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Raise our family and be close to our family.

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So, since then, this is where home is and we love it.

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We love it.

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Okay, and so, have you always been the coordinator since you came to anne arundel or did you?.

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I did not,, I was at old mill south for a few years.

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And then, I was the resource teacher,, so I actually transitioned slowly after sue, owens retired as the coordinator.

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Okay, okay.

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You have,, I'm sure, a great background in art,.

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But can you tell us why is it important for the schools to have art?.

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The arts are such a powerful tool and we,.

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In the visual arts office and in the visual arts world.

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Throughout the state and in the nation, really encourage.

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The communication tool that art is.

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And the power that it has to communicate, to express,.

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To engage our students in how they're feeling,.

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What they're thinking, to everybody.

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Okay,, so you said engage, and we see that all the time.

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Because we see so many., one of the reasons I wanted to have you here is because I think the students are very engaged and there's a lot of great exhibits and a lot of great times.

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For parents to see their kids' artwork.

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so,, can you tell us.

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About some of those exhibits and how they all work?.

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Yeah, we have several exhibits that are staples,.

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For lack of a better word, throughout the school year,.

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And we encourage our teachers to, as much as possible,.

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Showcase the depth and breadth of their programs.

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To our community., the larger, district-wide.

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Exhibits are in december., we showcase winter wonderland at westfield, annapolis, mall,.

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Which is only elementary work and we use winter-themed artwork for that time. Period.

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Then, we also, in march, focus on youth art month.

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And we are always excited to showcase in the public libraries throughout the county.

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And each cluster, for lack of a better word,.

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Gets to showcase within their communities.

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And they have receptions and offer an opportunity.

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For the communities to come into the local libraries.

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To see the students' work., in addition to that,, we also, in april every year,.

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We have a senior exhibit where we partner with anne arundel community college and that offers an opportunity for each school.

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To showcase some of their top senior work.

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And there is a really nice reception and some awards.

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That is adjudicated for our seniors to come.

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And be able to showcase their work,.

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As well. so, by seniors,, you mean the kids that are about to graduate?.

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Yes, twelfth-graders. and it's only twelfth-graders for that. correct, only twelfth-graders and each high school is represented there and it's usually between.

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One to five pieces of work for the senior show.

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Then,, our final and our large, all-county exhibit.

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Is at westfield annapolis and we usually begin in may.

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It's two weeks in may, and that is an opportunity.

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For every school to showcase their work.

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For the entire public to see.

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It's about 4,000 pieces of artwork,, so it is a huge, huge showcase.

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And we are extremely proud of it., the teachers come and they bring their work and self-install,, which is really nice, because then,.

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It gives them an opportunity just to make sure that it's up there exactly the way they want it to look.

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Well, and I think, there's a lot of thought.

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That goes into what pieces they bring and how they put them. Together, having been there.

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Yes, and the students, the open house evening that we have offers an opportunity.

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For all the students to come and be proud.

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To stand next to their work and their teachers come, their administrators come,, and it's just a wonderful evening.

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To be able to celebrate the art, that's going on.

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In anne arundel, county public schools.

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Okay. so, and then,, you said this is all grades,, so that means that there is kindergarten work all the way through our juniors and seniors.

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pre-k, as well,, and also our charter schools.

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And some of our special centers,, so we have pieces from everybody.

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And is it in just one part of the mall or is it,? I can't remember.

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Each year, it changes. this year,, it will be in between pottery barn.

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And the old lord & taylor, or the z gallerie,.

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I guess is what it is, and then in addition,.

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It'll, be that crate & barrel area for secondary.

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Okay, and it sounds like you, have it really good then,.

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Because you talked about the winter wonderland and this,.

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Both of which are at westfield,, so you have a good partnership relationship with the mall.

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[eleni] very much so, yes. and they appreciate the arts, obviously. (laughs).

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And then, throughout the year,, we also encourage vertical team shows,, where the elementary through the high school.

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Showcase within one of those schools- and they also have their own,, so there are vertical team shows as well that occur.

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Throughout the year in different parts of the county.

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So,, that's also another opportunity to showcase within the communities.

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Okay,, so it's sort of organic. it's, however, those clusters wanna, bring it.

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And so then, there was something just recently.

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That I remember, something with teachers.

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yes, yes,. We are very, very excited.

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Christopher whitehead,, who is our teacher specialist,.

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And I spoke about a teacher exhibit,, which we hadn't done in a very long time and so,.

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We have just really worked hard to enhance.

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The gallery space that we have here in the boe library and so,. We actually worked together to encourage teachers.

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To submit their work, 'cause they're all working artists, and we also want to encourage our teachers.

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To showcase their work as well and who they are as artists,, so we had a wonderful mix of pieces.

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That were in the lobby, for,, it was about a month.

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And how many pieces did you end up? Getting?.

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There were, I believe,, there were 32 pieces of work.

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That were showcased at that time, yes. wow,. There were a lot of people, interesting.

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That's really nice. so,. What do you think that that does for kids to see.

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Their teachers' artwork and to know?.

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I think that there is so much value in that and actually,. Some of our newer teachers are encouraged.

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By their colleges, when they first start teaching.

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That they showcase their work to their students.

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So, students know who they are as an artist.

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And I actually had one teacher at one point.

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Who actually had an easel, and when she had the opportunity, every now and then, she'd go up and she'd? Add.

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A few strokes and so on and so forth,, so the students kind of saw their work evolve as well.

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Throughout the year or throughout that time period, until the piece was done,, which I thought was a really cool way to showcase their own work.

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Yeah, to encourage.

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Yes,, they were all artists and were all making.

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And creating. right, right, right.

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So,, the students...

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I know I was in an elementary school,, so I got to see some of the types of artwork that they do there and it was always interesting to me.

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How they were sort of building every year.

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so,? Can you tell me anything about what that curriculum looks like and what parents,, especially parents with younger kids,, what they should expect, as their kids are growing?.

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I believe that one of the critical pieces.

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To curriculum is creating sequential.

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Units and lessons that build upon each other, and so,.

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We start with the building blocks of the elements of art.

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And the principles of design and they kind of grow.

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With the child,, as well as those skills,.

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Those concepts, that vocabulary, and so,.

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We truly start with learning line and shape and color,.

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But that doesn't mean it stops.. You continue to still use those building blocks.

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And we use them in everything that we do and that language.

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In order to continue to have our students understand.

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That they're, what we use to communicate to our viewers.

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So,, that vocabulary is important for them to understand. very much so. with their artwork.

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Yes, and artist statements too..

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We really encourage artist statements, so that,.

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No matter what grade, as an opportunity for a student.

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To share what was their intent,, what was their message,.

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And to help the viewer understand.

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What they were learning,, what they were doing,, how they did it,. However, they wanna communicate.

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To the viewer about their piece of work.

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So,, an artist statement is just.

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Like a paragraph long,, what is that?.

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It could be a sentence., it doesn't have to be a paragraph., it could be.. It is just an opportunity for the artist to show.

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And tell the viewer what they would like them.

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To know about the piece.

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That's interesting. so, really, when you think about it, what you all do in the art department is connected.

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To what's going on in the english department, because the kids are? Writing.-.

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Always, always. and art integration, as well, linking those opportunities.

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For our students to take the standards,.

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But not just the content, standards of the english and the math,, but also, the arts, standards and kind of weave them together.

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To create true understanding for the student.

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And to be able to communicate what they want to the viewer,, but that just makes connections.

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Right, and you brought up math too, and when I think about it,, there is a lot of math,.

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When you think about it, for artwork.

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You have to measure things out sometimes or patterns.

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That's so exciting, to see how it all comes together,- and I know that so many kids- truly enjoy,- that's the highlight of their day is to be able to go to art class,, which is exciting for them.

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and the connections,. The connections that they make.

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To everything around them is extremely important.

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And I think that, when we make those connections,.

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It makes a difference and it actually moves on with them.

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As they continue to grow, up.

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Well, we gotta wrap up in just a minute.

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We talked about this whole school year,, but is there anything for kids that are really interested in art that they can do during the summer months to sort of keep their skills up?? Is there anything that is offered?.

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The visual arts office does offer camp art trek.

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And natural connections camp at arlington, echo.

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They are usually in the month of july, and it's actually a four-day camp where the students.

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Can engage in art and nature by making those.

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Ah, I love it,, especially in the summer months.

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Alright, well,, thank you so much for coming, and I know that parents..., it's interesting to hear about the different departments and what they offer,. So I appreciate it,.

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And thank you for joining us for another edition of parent's. Corner. see you next time. (triumphant music).

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[Narrator], the cafe at maryland hall is a collaborative venture between anne arundel, county public schools and maryland hall for the creative arts., the culinary arts, students of the center of applied technology south not only prepare the wonderful food items,, they also manage and staff the cafe.

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Patrons may enjoy a treat or a cup of coffee.

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While also enjoying exhibits and performances.

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From artists in the aacps pva program.

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And local art community.. This amazing collaborative partnership gives the community an opportunity to experience awesome food.

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And customer service in a rich, artful atmosphere.

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Here in the community's art center,, our vibrant and exciting, maryland hall.

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Hi,, I'm jeannie porter.

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anne arundel county public schools' department of transportation is raising the level of awareness for the safety of your children as we transport them to and from school.

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(techno music).

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When a school bus stops to load students, as a driver,, this is what you will see.

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At 150 feet,, the bus will activate hazard lights.

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At 100 feet,, the bus driver will activate the amber lights.

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They will start slowing down.

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at 10 feet before the bus stops,.

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They will turn on the red bus lights,.

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Their stop sign will come out,.

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And students will begin to load.

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once all students are on board safely,, the bus driver will turn off red lights and move forward.

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At this time, it is safe for the motorist to resume movement.