Art is a mode of communicating that transcends language, ethnicity, race, and age. It is a powerful tool for building community and creating beautiful connections between students, parents, and faculty.
In late fall of 2018, Marine Biologist, and Time magazine “Hero of the Planet”, Sylvia Earle visited Green School and delivered an incredibly inspirational presentation to students. Her visit stirred up a flurry of excitement and left our primary students literally begging for more. This sort of passion and energy demonstrated by the students to explore our blue planet is a dream for progressive educators! I happily abandoned all of my plans and eagerly followed student curiosity deep into the ocean.
The next 6 weeks were magical — the curriculum was completely student-led, driven by their specific interests and questions. Incidentally at this time, renowned ceramicist and ocean activist, Courtney Mattison, was in Bali for the same convention as Sylvia Earle. I invited her to visit our school, where her inspirational presentation and small group FAQ’s activated yet another wave of excitement and inspiration, this time focused on the medium of ceramics and the topic of coral bleaching.
The final exhibit featured over 250 pieces from students in grades 1- 5. Imbedded in the creative works were environmental investigations fueled by these young minds! Topics ranged from pollution, coral bleaching, extinction, and more — students raised money to save turtles, hung posters around school with statistics about climate change, and organized beach clean-ups. On the day of the unveiling, we hoisted up “Disco Dolphin”, a 10 foot long 4th grade collaboration to rescue and upcycle an old fish armature that was found in a dumpster, and invited the community to come through and tour the gallery. Our underwater exhibit was the stage and set for student written-and-performed plays about the ocean. What an honor is was to provide the platform and encouragement for these children to take their education into their own hands. When children are empowered in this way, they learn at a mind-blowing pace, and create the most inspirational art!
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