Hi All!!

Respectfully Submitted,
Traci Lewis
MAEA District 1 Representative
artteach41@yahoo.com

Hi all!

My….how time flies!!!!  Seems like just a week or two ago and we were at Fall Conference in Knob Noster and now here it is time for Spring Conference,  we’ve begun the new year of 2009 and before you know it school will be out for another summer!  My parents and grandparents used to tell me that the older you get….the faster time passes and I never believed them…….but wow….how right they were!!!!

I won’t be able to make it to Spring this year as our District only pays for us to go to conferences now once every 5 years unless we do it on our own using personal days and our own funds.  I went to Fall so won’t be able to make it to Spring.

Would anyone want to head off the meeting down there for me?  I just want to talk about getting together for our Drag and Brag/Lesson Plan Sharing session that we will be having this Spring in Cameron at Kay Leepers school.  We had talked about March 7th so we need to find out if it is still on…….etc.

Never did make it to the Nelson, as a group, that is.  Some went on their own.  I wished it would have worked out, but it didn’t.  How sad is that?! 

They are talking about Districts decorating heads for centerpieces on the tables at Tan-Tar-A.  If anyone is interested in doing this with their classes, please let me know so I can let Council know!

If anyone has anything they would like to share….successes or failures or just plain any news period about ANYTHING…..please let me know so I can share that with Council in my District Report as well!

Let me know if you would or could lead the meeting for me at the Spring Conference!

Hope everyone is enjoying their school year!!!!!

Smiles,
Traci Lewis
District 1 Rep
artteach41@yahoo.com
816-262-2919

Okay, Fieldtrip #1 didn’t  happen for the rest of us even though Helen did get to go.  I’m glad you had a great time Helen, and I am thankful for the nice post you wrote regarding what you saw!!  Sounded really great!  I am now asking when you all would like to try for the rescheduling to take place?  Donna has stated she cannot go over Christmas, but does anyone else have an idea of when a good time to go would be or when they might want to go??

Please post or send a response to ArtBytes and we will try to get something rescheduled!

Thanks bunches!!

Smiles,

Traci

Hi All!

I will not be able to go Saturday because a gal quit at my second job which means I have to work next weekend unless they get someone hired and trained quickly….which I hope is what happens!

Bonny Acklin has graciously said she will keep the ball rolling for me(thank you Bonny!).  She’s the one who actually got us all the info on Red Star and Mattie Rhodes anyway!

Bonny’s phone number are: 660-652-4482(home) and 816-261-6551(cell).  If those of you that are going will PLEASE give her a call to confirm and make sure times are straight it would be greatly appreciated!!

I have heard from several of you, but please call her just to be on the safe side as to making arrangements!

I hope I will be able to go anyway!!!  So, fingers crossed for me!

Smiles,
Traci Lewis
District 1 Rep
artteach41@yahoo.com
816-262-2919

Thanks to Bonny Acklin who got stuff set up for us!!  Here’s what she found out for us:

Traci,
We're all set @ Red Star and Mattie Rhodes on 11/8. We'll hit RS first
with a short tour and then can look around on our own. MR is just a
block down the street from RS. They said the  D of the D alters will
still be up. Can't wait!
Bonny

YEAH!!!  Now…..where to meet and who all wants to drive?  I will drive….anyone else?  Should we meet at my school in Savannah or would you all rather meet in St. Joe somewhere????  Please reply ASAP!!!!

Smiles, Traci

Hey all!!!!

For those of you that aren’t familiar with Mattie Rhodes Art Center and the wonderful things they do there for our District 1 Day Out, please feel free to check out this website!

http://www.mattierh odes.org/ web/english/ Art_Center. html

And for Red Star, please check out their website as well:

http://redstarstudi os.org/

Hope you can all join us for a day of fun!!!

So far, I have 7 signed up to go!!

Don’t miss the opportunity!

Smiles,
Traci Lewis
MAEA District 1 Rep
artteach41@yahoo. com
816-262-2919

Hey all you District 1′ers!!!

Bonny found out that Red Star and Mattie Rhodes both are open on Saturdays!!  How does Saturday, November 8th sound???  They open at 10:00…so what do you say we plan on meeting somewhere around 9:00am??

Please shoot me an email and let me know if this will work for you!  I realize we can’t make everyone happy…..it would be great though if we could!!!  Also, Helen found out that the display will still be going on at the Nelson then as well!  Wanna’ make a day of it????

We can carpool too!  It will be great!!!

Let me know ASAP!!!  Also, you can copy the email addresses in this email to your contacts.  This is all I had that were at the meeting that day!

Smiles,
Traci Lewis
MAEA District 1 Rep
artteach41@yahoo.com
816-262-2919

I am looking forward to this exciting weekend at Knob Noster!!  Sounds like the weather will be absolutely gorgeous, so that will make for an even greater conference….that is, if you can get any greater than what we already have!

Not much went on this summer that I know of in District 1.  I was busy managing the Country Club pool for another season, which takes up my entire summer and then some!  We were going to try and do a Raku firing this summer at one of the District 1′s member’s homes, but we never could get it together!

This fall I was approached with the Missouri Verses and Voices juried art exhibition.  I obliged and so my kids have been busy, busy, busy getting their artwork ready for that exhibition which is to be hung this weekend (Sunday) after I get home from Knob.  MO Verses and Voices is to honor the first Missouri Poet Laureate, Walter Bargen, and his works.  The kids had to read his poetry, interpret it and illustrate it or do some type of art having to do with his poetry(calligraphy, etc.).  The kids have done a wonderful job!  Then the art will be judged and the best will go on to St. Joseph where other “Bests” will be displayed and Walter Bargen will be there himself to recite some poetry.  All the arts are involved…..Drama will be doing interpretations, etc.  I can’t wait to see what other schools and grade levels have done!

Erin Oehler from Horace Mann Laboratory School did an extrememly successful project withher kids in conjunction with the 100^th day of school (elementary K – 6).  For kindergarten, they looked at the portraits by Arcimbaldo and his “fruit face.”  The kids voted, and they decided to make a portrait using 100 animals.  The kids cut out pictures of animals so that they had at least 100 to choose from.  They drew a profile portrait outline and carefully placed the animals inside the outline until they had a portrait containing 100 animals. Erin painted a background and put it in a frame so the kids could have it in their room.

In the grades 1-6, Erin put up 100 “famous” artworks.  She included works that the kids studied in classes in addition to a variety across art history.  Some things Erin included that would be familiar were Mount Rushmore, US Capitol Building, etc.  Unfamiliar, but a favorite was Radioactive Cats by Sandy Skoglund.  The works were up with the names of artists and the names of the works for about 3 weeks.  The classroom teachers had PowerPoints with the works on them where the work showed first and then six seconds later, the title and names would come up.  Some of the teachers used these letting them run while the kids were coming in each the morning and some did not. She spent a little class time, but not much on this, covering works that she thought would be of particular interest to each class.  It was a challenge to the individual students.  After 3 weeks, the names came down and numbers went up.  They could get one point for knowing the artwork title and one point for knowing the artist.  Erin challenged first level students to know ten artworks, second level to know 20 artworks, and so on.  The top winners in each class got a prize (Erin made mugs for them).  She was thrilled by how many students made their target.  But even more exciting was the kids coming in and saying to Erin “I saw the Space Needle on TV last night.”  They were seeing these buildings and images places and recognizing them!!!

Kudos to Erin and thank you for sharing a great success with us all!!

Erin was the only District 1 member who sent me a story!

I hope to see if I can’t plan a weekend day trip to the Nelson.  I thought that might be fun!

That’s all folks!!

Hi all!

So far my term has begun with trying to get all my District 1 people located.  I have also talked with one of my District 1′ers about having her annual Raku firing that she has held in the past summers for the District 1′ers.  I am waiting for her to get back with me on a date for this!

No one sent me any good news, etc. on things that they did in the last term of the school year…so I have nothing to report from any of them, however, I did have 2 state poster contest winners that won cash and got to attend a ceremony in Jefferson City at the Capitol in May.  That was the 17th year in a row that we have had a state winner!!(oh, and we ARE NOT the only school that enters….hahahaha!!!)

In the fall I am planning to get a group of District 1′ers together to go visit the Nelson and/or Matte Rhodes Art Center in KC.

That’s about all I have for now!  See y’all at Fall!!

Smiles,

Traci Lewis

District One Rep.

artteach41@yahoo.com