CELEBRATIONS OF LEARNING
SPRING TERM II, 2020
WELCOME!
Thank you for joining our final Celebrations of Learning for the 2020 academic year. We have loved sharing the course Hope in Troubled Times with our students virtually during COVID-19. Please browse the projects below to see what students learned in this new and exciting course. Click on images to enlarge them and the buttons to see the attached poems and writings.
HOPE IN TROUBLED TIMES COURSE
OVERVIEW:
This course, designed especially for our current situation as we have become more virtual during the COVID19 pandemic, focused on cultivating hope in trying situations, looking to histories of others who have stretched for hope, and working toward practices that ground us, individually and creatively as distanced communities, in being a hopeful people. In times of grief or hardship, we want to model and give opportunity for students to lament hard things and then provide the opportunity to imagine and hope in prophetic ways as architects of repair. This course served as the spring course for all Odyssey students. All Odyssey mentors contributed weekly to this course to provide a plethora of ways to see, learn about, and practice hope together.
Daily courses included:
Hope Through Mathematics
Theology of Hope
Women of Wisdom
The Psychology of Hope
Hope Through the Arts
Finding Hope in Shared Experience
Music: A Language Beyond Words
Hope in a Changing World
Hope in the Resilient Human Body
Poetry as a Mechanism of Hope
Frankenstein: Creativity in the Midst of Tragedy
Memories of Hope
Hope for a Better Brain
HOPE IS IN COMMUNITY GARDENS
POLLINATOR GARDEN
By Corban B.
For my project, I built and planted a pollinator garden, which is a garden whose purpose is to attract pollinators (bees, wasps, butterflies, hummingbirds, etc.). I used many different plants, including Echinacea x hybrida, Salvia greggii, Salvia nemorosa, Monarda didyma, Stokesia laevis, Agastache, and Gaura lindheimeri. I also have a species of milkweed, which is very good at attracting butterflies. My hope is that my garden will attract lots of pollinators, improving local plant life and making my area a better place to live. This project mainly draws from the lesson from Ms. Stroud titled “We’re All in this Together.” The lesson talked about the benefits of biodiversity and how we can improve biodiversity in our area.
I hope that my audience learns that we can and should still be improving the lives of those around us even in these trying times. The fact that people can still better the community certainly gives me hope. I also hope people will get a sense of togetherness when they see my garden.
PLANTS FOR NEIGHBORS
By Christman C.
For my Celebrations of Learning project I incorporated Elements from the Earth Science class and the Shared Table class. I created miniature “display tables” for herbs and potentially some veggies or fruits, and gifted these to my neighbors and friends. The plants bring new possibilities for the environment, creating more biodiversity which ties into the earth science class. The shared table lesson was about how making food and giving it to others is a good way of spreading hope. Depending on the plant that the person was given, I wrote down multiple recipes that can be created with their plant.
I hope the people that see my project see that spreading hope is not a difficult task, but it can go a long way. I want people to see that spreading hope does not have to be a task, you can learn to just do it for the sake of those around you. This act of simple giving is a great way to spread hope. Even if you take the same concept and give away something smaller, the message you are sending to that person is big, whether you see it or not. Giving plants to people might not be significant to every single person, but if it matters to at least one of them, then it is worth it. This is how we should approach more things in life.
COMMUNITY GARDEN
By Jacob G.
I have noticed a problem with people not eating healthy foods and compromising because gardening is hard. I wanted to show people that it’s not as hard as they think. There are an endless amount of problems with our agriculture system today, and this is my part to try to combat those problems.
Mr. Moll’s lesson on the problems with agriculture really impacted this project. In the words of Wendell Berry, the food that we consume should be one of the highest standards we hold in our lives. And he doesn’t believe that standard is being held up in the world, and I agree with him.
Mrs. Gullo’s course on community service also influenced my garden project. What really struck me was the importance of working together for a common goal for your community. Therefore, I wanted to serve my community by creating a garden so we can all serve together.
What gives me hope right now is that no matter what happens I have the choice to become a victim to my circumstances, or to have hope and pursue growth.
HOPE IS IN SHARED FOOD WITH COMMUNITY
BAKING FOR MY NEIGHBORS
By Hanna C.
For my Celebrations of Learning project, I chose to bake cookies for my neighbors and write letters to them telling them why I am thankful to have them as my neighbor. Because I wanted to make this project artistic as well, I made all of the cards Star Wars themed cards. I chose Star Wars because everyone (that I am aware of) loves Star Wars. I chose to do this project because I wanted my neighbors to feel loved and encouraged, and hopefully that would help them to have hope through this hard time. I was inspired to bake cookies by Mrs. Gullo’s lesson on Communal Hope. In this lesson we made cookies for one of our neighbors.
For the artistic part of this project, I was inspired by Mrs. Curro’s Hope for Others art lesson in which we chose three different people to write letters to, and we had to make an art piece on the front of each card. I have found personally that being loving and encouraging to others gives others hope and when people act that way to me, that has been giving me hope, whether that is through a letter, or a gift.
LET HOSPITALITY BRING US HOPE
By Joanna B.
The two classes that I pulled from were Mrs. Gullo’s class on serving our community through food and other things, and Dr. Martin’s class on history, talking about hope, and being grateful.
I feel like my project relates to Mrs. Gullo’s class in the sense that I talked about the local food business that have been working during the pandemic, and giving hope to these people going through these hard times. I think this project also relates to Dr. Martin’s class because it portrays that we must appreciate and be grateful for the people that do such small things, but still manage to make a difference in people's lives.
I chose to do this project because I noticed how much joy these small businesses are giving people, including me. These places are truly hope giving in troubled times.
HOPE IN A GOOD MEAL WITH GOOD PEOPLE
By Ash J.
For my final Celebrations of Learning project, I made an entire meal for my closest friends and family. I cooked healthy and vegan pasta and for a side dish I made baked zucchini with vegan cheese made from almonds. I chose to do this project because my family and my friends have been the ones getting me through this quarantine. As an introvert, I would be perfectly okay with staying in my room all day, but these amazing women have gotten me out of the house (following social distance rules!) and have been a constant reminder that community is one of the most important things in a pandemic. Making this meal was my way of honoring them for keeping me smiling throughout these dark times.
The lesson that I learned from this project is that you can not go through difficult times alone. It is impossible. You need people to constantly remind you that life can still be good and that community is needed for us to get through a dark place. I consider these people the light of my life. I simply want my audience to know that they shouldn’t shut people out in dark times. Let people in and learn to love people well while also learning to love yourself.
HOPE IN A MEAL
By Maddie P.
My Celebrations of Learning this quarter is a dinner in honor of the classes I took called the Communal Table and Theologies of Hope. In the Communal Table, we studied and learned the importance of sitting around a table and creating a community atmosphere. In Theologies of Hope we studied how different religions represent and respect hope in different ways. In a pandemic like Covid-19 it is important to recognize what you still have during hardships, like the small spaces of time called meals, where your family can gather around to eat together. If different religions can honor each other, like in Theologies of Hope, people can sit around a table, honor each other, and find similarities.
The dinner I made had a full lemon chicken, a zucchini, cheese, and rice casserole, a salad, bread, and a cast-iron cookie topped with ice cream. I served the meal to my family and delivered a full plate of it to my neighbor who lives alone next door and visited with her for half an hour. I was inspired by the hope talked about by all of the mentors this quarter and I hope my meal can inspire you too.
HOPE IS IN WORDS OF KINDNESS & NEIGHBORLINESS
THE FUEL OF CHANGE
By Sophia W.
I wrote about the positive effects of the pandemic on the environment and communities around the world because I strongly believe that there is always hope to be found amidst the darkness. There is a blessing to every downfall; the coronavirus pandemic is not an exception to that.
In this project, I utilized the writing techniques learned in the Hope in the Journey class taught by Ms. Kingston. I included traits from Ms. Stroud’s biology class and I am following Dr. Martin’s statistics from his Psychology of Happiness class. The specific statistic that I am including in this project stated that sending a thoughtful letter to someone raises their happiness by forty percent for the following six months and that is what influenced my decision to send my paper in letters to over twenty people around the country.
I hope that by reading this paper, you walk away with a little more hope than before. Everything seems extremely grim right now, and it very much is for numerous people. What I am trying to accomplish with this project is to show those who need it what is good in the world right now. It’s extremely easy to be frustrated at this time. With this, we must remember that disappointments are inevitable, but discouragement is a choice. There are so many communities taking advantage of right now to spread joy and they are giving me an abundant amount of hope. I hope that they do the same for you.
POEM: You Have to Look for Hope
By Fletcher G.
The following poem was written by Fletcher to inspire hope in his neighbors. Fletcher handed out the poem in his painted envelopes to people in his community:
Hope is at taco Tuesday when you smell the fresh food
Hope is on the basketball court when your teammate scores the layup to tie it up to send it into overtime
Hope is on the soccer field when you score a hat trick, it gives you hope to go pro
You need to have hope at your your favorite singer’s concert and hope that they will play your favorite song…
CARDS FOR NEIGHBORS
By Madisyn K.
I chose this project because I thought it was fitting. It is sweet and feels good to receive a handwritten letter. Also, in psychology of happiness we learned that receiving a letter can elongate happiness for up to four months. It is a good way to show people they are loved and appreciated.
Mrs. Curro’s art class influenced this assignment because since quarantine I have been drawing and doodling in the free time I have. And Dr. Kruck’s religion class has opened my eyes to the power of unity and hope in something greater.
I hope the audience takes away that someone cares and understands. That even when things aren’t ideal there is always a silver lining.
A number of things are giving me hope, but currently it is the future. I am so excited about being a senior, I have lots of plans for volunteering this summer; which I cannot wait for.
MASKS OF GROWTH
By Davyn C.
For my Celebration of Learning project, I decided to make face masks for people to write the number one thing they have learned over the time we have had at home. For many, being alone for so long can be very hard and challenging, but you can also find beauty in that. I wanted to share that with others. I asked eight people what word described their time at home. Many said words like serenity and peace. For this project, I took from the Hope in Troubled times course that we are in this together, especially poetry in which I have both learned to express my feelings in words and help others do so. I found this project very eye-opening to the ways people are growing during this hard time.
CARE-MAIL PEN PAL
By Joshua P.
For my Celebration of Learning project, I decided to provide hope for those in need during this troubled time. Through the CEEAS Care-Mail Program, I have been connected with a young person who is spending quarantine in prison. This program allows me to send them letters to give them a little extra hope and support during this scary time. I chose this project because it allows me to spread hope and positivity to others who are less fortunate, and share guidance and support to those who are in need. My goal is for those who see this project to ask themselves what they can do to send hope to others.
HOPE NOTES
By Ava W.
This class has been about hope through hard times and how to express it in different ways. Hope is something that can be expressed through art, poetry, writing, and reading. I chose to spread and express my hope through art and poetry, hoping that others will feel hope and others will see the good in this difficult time. I went to a couple neighborhoods around mine and to Downtown Edmond to set up and place small poems about hope on car windows, on crosswalk buttons, on scooters like limes and birds, on tables outside of coffee shops, on mailboxes, and on some front doors. On the pieces of paper were lots of color so that people would see it easier and so that it would just add a little bit of an effect about how much time and how much effort I put into these. I made sure to use a very strong duct tape and did it on a not so windy day so that they wouldn't blow away and create litter.
The lessons that influenced this are definitely Mrs. Bybee’s poetry class because we had to write a lot of poetry and a lot of stuff about hope. The other class was Mrs. Curro’s art class and the lesson where we had to do some form of art and put it outside with words of hope. I hope that whenever someone sees the notes that they smile and have a positive mindset for at least the day.
“Hope is not a way to act, it's a way to live.”
“This will all make sense in the near future.”
“Hope isn’t something you have, it’s something you find.”
LETTERS
By Olivia C.
I chose this project because one big thing that gives me hope is reassurance. Knowing that people love you and are there for you helps.
The lessons that helped me think of this was art and poetry. In art, we wrote letters to people and I included art with them. I used poetry as a guide to helping me write the letters. I hope that these letters help people have hope and that they know we care! Something that has been giving me hope right now is writing and drawing. Journaling about my day makes me feel so much better. Art helps me relax. When you listen to music and just paint, it is so calming.
HOPE IS IN THE WORDS & LIVES OF THE WISE
MOTHER TERESA HELPING THE SICK
By Jack Henry L.
I decided on this project because Mother Teresa is well known for sharing hope with others. Due to the pandemic, many people are having a harder time with having hope. I hope that when someone sees this painting they know that they are not alone and that they need to keep their eternal flame of hope alive, and not to give up. Currently, seeing family and getting to know my family better has really given me hope for the future and has made me a happier person.
The lessons that influenced my project would be the Women of Hope lesson about the wise Mother Teresa, along with the art class lesson over the well-known painter, Norman Rockwell. Both showed hope in different ways, but still were able to share hope.
Mother Teresa helped the sick and cared for the elderly. She brought hope to her community, which spread across the world. Norman Rockwell showed historical events in stylized realistic paintings, helping people hope for a better, brighter future.
For this painting I used an 18 by 24 inch canvas, painted with acrylic paint. The painting shows Mother Teresa and two Missionaries of Charity helping a sick elderly man through the streets. I decided not to add faces, due to how Mother Teresa did not like to think of herself better than others, but equal to everyone else.
THEY PREVAILED
By Jules R.
This is a collage of women who prevailed in times when it felt like there was no hope. I was inspired by the Women of Hope and the Hope in Writing courses because they got me interested in researching these incredible women. I love how these women sacrificed their lives to give hope to future generations. This pandemic is nothing compared to what past generations suffered through. These women have brought me hope for the future.
These women were activists, authors, nurses, pilots, scientists, doctors, and more. Gender, age, physical weakness, and education didn’t stop them. These women were in situations they never thought they would get out of, but they had hope and did extraordinary things. These women were strong, rebellious, and fiery feminists who paved the way for generations to come. Corrie ten Boom was part of the Dutch Resistance and saved nearly 800 lives during the Holocaust. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a leading figure of the womens’ rights movement. Aleda Lutz was a United States Army flight nurse and one of the highest decorated women in the history of the U.S. military. The Mirabal sisters opposed the Dominican dictatorship government, and were assassinated for their actions. Many of these women were killed for what they did, but they were never scared of death. These women were revolutionary for what they did for the future generations, working hard to stop world wars, discrimination, and pandemics.
The Women Featured: Anne Frank, Corrie ten Boom, Catherine of Siena, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Malala Yousafazi, Deborah of Israel, Joan of Arc, Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Clara Barton, Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, Martha Washington, Lucy Knox, Ruby Bridges, Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Elsie Ott, Susan Travers, Noor Inyat Khan, Aleda Lutz, Indira Gandhi, Recy Taylor, Patria Mirabal, Minerva Mirabal, Maria Teresa Mirabal, Tu Youyou, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Virginia Hall, Anna Walentynowicz, Edith Cavell, Mairi Chisholm, Elsie Knocker, Anna Caroline Maxwell, Florence Farmborough, Benazir Bhutto, and Lyudmila Pavlichenko.
ANAIS NIN ILLUSTRATION
By Karyss C.
My project symbolizes hope to me during this pandemic and when I have my art piece hanging up in my home my family has something to give them hope, too. I chose this quote by Anais Nin because it really stuck out to me when I first read it. It gave me hope to keep going and not to give up.
I hope my audience takes away that by the end of the day there’s hope and to keep your head up and keep going, no matter what things will turn out.
Something that is giving me hope right now is just keeping my head up and looking forward to the future and things after quarantine.
BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER
Rendition by Cooper and Julian
The song “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel feels like the perfect song for the times we are in right now. Feelings of isolation, fear of missing out, and loneliness have become far more common because of the Coronavirus. This song is a love letter to one’s friend, telling them that if they are feeling lonely, or isolated, or down in any way, they will be there for them.
We take inspiration from Dr. Martin and Mr. Cheng’s classes. Dr. Martin gives inspiration in that his class focuses very much on the need for social interaction and for friends to be there for each other. Mr. Cheng’s class is, of course, a music class and focuses largely on how feelings are brought up in so many different ways through the art and language of music.
We want our audience to recognize the hope in the song through its uplifting feel, and the happiness it may inspire in their hearts. We’ve seen so many people combating the psychological effects of coronavirus through creativity, and it has been the biggest influence on our own thoughts and beliefs about hope. Reaching for communal hope in troubled times such as these can be done, despite its appearance of being difficult. Our project will hopefully show the listeners that even in the darkest hours of the most troubled times, there is always a bridge out of it, and leaning on one’s friend is a good way to get over that bridge.
This song brings out the hope in both of us that we will see our friends again, and bring our community closer together. This song is as perfect as any for us to reimagine.
VIVID DREAM
By Coby S.
My painting is of what I imagine Heaven to look like. I painted this for the Women of Wisdom class because I feel like this vision is the reason that these women lived their lives the way that they did. There are two figures in the center of the painting that represent how we will be connected as one family in Heaven. Dr. Heidi Baker said, “No matter how deep we have gone, there is more.” The thought of Heaven is the reason that Baker knows that there is more ahead. She lives her life spreading love and care for others just like so many of our healthcare professionals are doing during COVID-19.
TWO SIDES
By Kyla C.
This is a painting representing a woman who has two sides to her, just as we all have. We can either devote our lives to the good and love, or we can fall into bad things in life. The painting I created relates to the women we learned about in the Women of Wisdom class. Each woman saw themselves as normal, ordinary people until they made the choice to sacrifice their lives to God and to do everything through love instead of giving into temptation and evil.
HOPE IS IN HEALTH & PRODUCTIVITY
HOPE IN THE EARTH
By Will M.
I chose this project because I thought it would give people hope at this time, and I enjoy doing string art. Two lessons that influenced me for this project was Mrs. Curro’s art class, where I drew a chalk picture of the Earth in my driveway. Another lesson that inspired me was Ms. Stroud’s science class, where we had to watch a video about the Earth. I hope that people see that if a school can still do their semester and Celebrations of Learning, and they can see that we still worked hard on our projects, they will have hope that we will all get through this time. Something that is giving me hope right now is my family. Staying at home and having fun with them is giving me hope. This project is a string art project that shows we are all connected during this time. The strings represent the people across the world who are trying to find hope in troubled times.
HOPE IS IN PRESENT HEALING
PANDEMIC
By Phierra H.
I chose this project because it helped answer questions I had about the virus. Such as, “How many people have died in an area,” and things like “How many people have gotten positive in a place.”
The lessons that influenced my project were Mrs. Bybee's poetry classes. While working on her lessons, I got to experience different types of poetry I never knew existed. I also got to see deeper into poetry and the stores and lessons it can create. Also, Mrs. Curro’s art lessons influenced this piece. During her course I was able to reach into the soul of art. Art has so many stories it can tell; just like poetry. Art uses the aspects of words to talk to us in a way that only we can understand as an individual. For example, even if people read or see the same book or art piece each person can learn something different from it.
I want the audience to take away that we are bigger than the virus and we will be ok if we work together.
The thing that is giving me hope is my family. I love them and they are always making me smile. They show me that everything will be ok if we have each other's back and that we can get through this.
HOPE IN THE AGE OF CORONAVIRUS
By Sam L.
My project is a photo book documenting the Coronavirus. It explores both my quarantine experience at home and what it looks like in the community. I decided to create this partially out of my own curiosity, wanting to know what businesses and individuals are doing right now, as well as wanting to share what is going on with my community. The lessons that influenced me most was Mrs. Curro's photography lesson where we created miniature scenes that can give us hope during this time. The other was Ms. Kingston's lesson where she challenged us to think about how the virus affects us and how we can have hope. I hope that these photos give you hope as you see people doing good things.
The major thing giving me hope right now is all the medical professionals working through all this and the scientists working to create treatment and immunizations at this time. Have a great day!
HOPE IS FINDING MEANING & SELF-EXPRESSION IN THE ARTS
A LIGHT OF HOPE UNDER A BLANKET OF FEAR
By Amber P.
I chose to do this project because I really enjoyed the poetry and art classes. I wanted to find a way to incorporate these lessons into my final project. I created an original poem about how the “light of hope” seemed to be covered by the “blanket of fear.” I then took this poem and decorated it in the style of street art on a homemade poster. I used cut up paper bags to create the poster because I wanted to reuse materials that I had around my house.
I hope that by reading this poem and seeing the poster, people will see that feeling scared in these times is absolutely normal. Everyone is having these feelings, and I think it is important to share that in order to grow closer and to help each other get through tough times. Right now, my friends and family are giving me lots of hope, so I would like to give hope to as many people as I can in return.
PLAYGROUND
By James G.
I chose to do a poetry book for primarily two reasons. The first being is that this was a venture I had originally planned to embark on pre-quarantine, and I couldn’t help but latch onto the opportunity to fulfill some of what I envisioned for the original project. The second reason is that during this time of isolation, expressing emotions through creative outlets is something that has kept me sane, and I think it is a valuable route for anyone to take. Two teachers inspired this project: Mrs. Bybee’s poetry class and Dr. Martin’s spoken word lesson based around the moral leadership of historic figures, their speeches, and what influences they had on the world both influenced this collection of poems.
Find creative ways to express yourself, explore different mediums, and build community within the creative process.
THE DIAL DANCE
By Becca L.
I love creating and making art and expressing myself through my own creations.The lessons that influenced this piece were Poetry and Art. I want my audience to take away that even in these tough times hope can still be found and that you can find hope in times of darkness. The thing that's giving me hope is art; I love expressing myself through artwork and being creative with my surroundings.
VICTER’S SHADOW
By Sayer D.
The two lessons that I am drawing from specifically and that inspired me to create this art piece is art lesson six and Frankenstein lesson two. The reason why I chose Frankenstein lesson two was because it had a powerful ending. Frankenstein had abandoned his creation his entire life and had hated him with everything, but Frankenstein’s monster had never felt anything from anyone else negative or positive so he clung to Frankenstein. When he died, he felt remorse and pain because the only thing he had ever known was gone. The way I am representing the art class lesson six is in the way I chose to draw this. When doing my original, I chose a picture that spoke to me about that person. For example, I wrote a letter for Chase and I drew graffiti because when I think Chase, a picture of chaotic art pops into my head. So for the Celebration of Learning, when I think of that final moment between Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s monster, I just picture Frankenstein longing for what he could never have and what might have been, him longing to be loved for not his awkward appearance but for what he could’ve been on the inside.
I chose this project because what I want people to take away is that people make snap judgments on people after one interaction and believe they know that person before giving them a chance and accepting being wrong sometimes.
The thing that influenced this project was the last bit of the Frankenstein story as well as how I see myself in Frankenstein as I think we all can. He was rejected before given a chance and not given the one thing we all need. Frankenstein’s monster wants to be loved or even just noticed he was craving attention from Victor so he became a monster to get that attention he needed. He did monstrous things, and I can understand why he did them. In the end, he was heartbroken when Victor died and longed for him.
GRATITUDE EMBROIDERY
By Brianna B.
For my Celebrations of Learning I created a word collage with clothing and embroidery as the media. I applied this to one of my uniform shirts to signify my time at Odyssey and all that I have learned in these past three years. I did this in reference to Sandra Cisneros’s idea of her hope in her community. I wanted to embroider the things and people I see in my community that inspire me and show me hope. I also wanted to embroider things I am grateful for into the shirt to reference Dr. Martin’s lesson on the Science of Gratitude. A few examples of what I might write for “hope in my community” are: Bek Barkocy’s Art (my favorite OKC artist who brings many Oklahoman women together and whose art is full of hope); The Spero Project’s common home; and Not Your Average Joe, who employs adults with intellectual disabilities thus giving them hope and a way to sustain their lives. I want to remind people that, even when things seem difficult, nothing lasts forever and that many people in their community are working to spread hope and inspire others to do so as well. I am influenced by my lessons in school, my community in OKC, and things I have read such as The House on Mango Street, the Harry Potter series, and the life of Sojourner Truth. We can reach out to those we appreciate and love in hard times by way of letter, calls or if possible quality time listening and learning from one another. My project reminds people that there is still light in the darkness and to remind them to practice gratefulness.
BUTTERFLY PAINTING TUTORIAL
By Kyla & Coby
We chose to do this project because we really enjoyed Mrs. Curro’s art lessons. We wanted to do something with art and get a message of hope across and so we decided to paint a butterfly and record it so that people could have a sense of community during this time and could have something to do.
The butterfly represents the different stages of change. Change happens all the time and we are going into a change right now. Before a butterfly becomes a butterfly it has to go through different stages to get there. We have to go through different stages and change in our life in order to become our beautiful selves. We hope that our audience takes away hope from this project and realizes that there is a lot of change going on right now but out of that change will come something great.
CARING HANDS
By Emersen A.
I chose this project because I saw all of the healthcare workers risking their lives to help others, and I wanted my project to honor them. The lesson ‘Hope through Art’ influenced my project, because the lessons in that class were focused around showing hope through forms of art, and that inspired me to take my idea of honoring healthcare workers through art. The blue hand represents a healthcare worker with a glove on, and the one without the glove represents us helping them. I hope my audience takes away that healthcare workers have risked their lives to help us, and that they should find a way to honor them and thank them for their work. Seeing good/positive news and progression in the world is giving me hope right now.
GLASS FINGERS
By Hope C.
I created these two pieces because I wanted to use my voice to capture emotions while also giving an abstract visualization of our world and it’s corruption. I am using the inspiration I have gained by taking Mrs. Curro’s art and Mrs. Bybee’s poetry classes. I think both forms of art are extremely impactful and relatable. In those courses we talked about people who changed the world doing what they loved and expressing their opinions and views through art. I thought about how important that is to our world and where we would be without art and it inspired me to do a piece myself. It inspired me to use my voice and speak my views into existence. I want my audience to take away from my piece a sense of self awareness on how human beings are blind to the damage we have caused our world and our animals. My art piece is about how we long to be out of quarantine and "to be set free", and how hypocritical that is of us to want if we aren't even willing to give that to our brothers and sisters in prison, our animals that are raised in captivity and stolen from their natural habitats, our air that is polluted, and our oceans that we are destroying. I want my art to be a wake up call to the human race to rejoin the natural balance of life, to stop trying to control and fix something that didn't need "human fixing" in the first place. To come back home, to love what we were created to love and not destroy: ourselves, people, the divine good, the world, our animals, etc. It promotes hope because I think the world is realizing the severity of these conditions slowly; which makes me happy. Hopefully when we come out of this quarantine we understand our hypocrisy. This would need to be a worldwide realization, not just the USA, the whole world. This is what gives me hope:that one day our world hopefully wakes up to all of the amount of pain and hurt we have caused and tries to fix it.
AMERICAN SENTENCES IN ART
By Kt H.
In Poetic Practices and Street Art and Messages about Hope, I learned about different ways to create poetry and how to get creative with displaying art messages.
My project was inspired by two different class periods in which we made positive street art at home and in which we learned about and made our own American sentences. I chose to create American sentences because I found them to be poetic and fun.
American Sentences have only one single boundary, which is that the first line must be seventeen syllables. Although it has very few boundaries, this makes it very challenging. I decided to convey my message with art because I believe it would be an engaging way to show my point of view during the current events. I hope that my audience remembers or learns from this lesson to always look at the bright side of things. The one thing that is giving me hope is my loved ones, I hope others can relate to that as well.
PERSONAL SYMBOLS OF HOPE
By Spencer C.
This painting is about all the things that bring me joy and hope in life. The two classes this relates to are Ms. Kingston’s that talks about hope and Mrs. Curro’s with art. I chose this project because I would like to show people what I think hope is. Things giving me hope are nature, music, Christianity, and love.
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