We Walk the Walk (& Run the Run & Play the Song &Paint the Art...)

4/30/2014

Nationwide many schools these days SAY that they are about all arts integration, STEAM integration, multiple intelligences, teaching perseverance, you name it.

But when the chips are down, they fall back on the old drill-and-kill and the arts do not truly live and breathe there. Not so at Piedmont!

Even as good as we are though, our own Encore team does not get enough props for the ways they enrich our school. An event like last night's Prism really brings home how much arts and elective teachers enrich our students' (and our) lives with their subjects.

Behind the scenes and off stage, they are in there day in and day out teaching our kids the lessons that will stay with them long after our students have forgotten the material on this years EOG's.

For example, I was just in Ms. Marshall's Health classroom and she was showing her students how to fail.

In case you don't understand how that's a good thing, click the jewel prism heart to watch the video she showed. Got it? If that's not enough, she also mentioned that she's teaching the kids in health how to look at it when someone talks bad about them. "That's a good thing, don't let it bother you. Now you know what kind of person they are." She actuallly said it a lot better than that. What she has is a gift. My self esteem strengthened just being in her classroom!

To see Ms. Czeriwinski's students live painting to the expertly disciplined and melodic strains of Mr. Forbis' band last night was awe-inspiring. I'd never seen anything like it in a k12 performance before. To watch Ms. Macleod and Ms. Winegardner running around pre-event and rehearsal for drama and orchestra when the day is over for the rest of us is likewise humbling. New level of appreciation reached!

Thank you all and here are a few photos that cannot do the beauty of your work justice: