Wow, I am overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the ASU Prep families.  First, I have to thank all of the parents, high school students and ASU STEM Academy students that helped to make our first annual Fine Arts Night possible.  I could not have done it without all of you to help hang all of that art, then take it down again.

Next, thank you all for the generous Teacher Appreciation Week gifts and end of year gifts.  You thoughtfulness is so appreciated.  You are all so wonderful.  

Thank you for all you do to make ASU STEM Academy the amazing school that it is.  We couldn't do it without your support.

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What a whirlwind of a year this has been.  It has been my absolute pleasure being the K-8 art teacher at ASU STEM Academy this year.  I knew it was going to be a challenge starting an art program from scratch, and teaching nine different grade levels, but it has been an amazing experience.  The students and families have been so wonderful, and I am looking forward to next year being even more successful.  

If you don't follow our Instagram page yet, please consider doing so.  I post pictures of the students' work more frequently than I have been able to blog about them.  Look for @asu.prep.art

Here is a glimpse of some of the things that have been happening in the art room:


Kindergarten
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We've had so many art experiences in Kindergarten.  We learned about lines, how to draw starting with shapes, we've practiced our cutting skills, and have linked many of our pieces to literature. 


First and Second Grade

Mrs. Bull's class, Ms. Treptow's class, and Mrs. Sullivan's class worked hard on making their art books.  We can't wait to share them with our families.  Currently we are working on a collection of Oops Art inspired by Barney Saltzberg's book, Beautiful Oops.

Ms. Gonyea's class and Ms. Chester's class have filled their portfolios with artwork from throughout the year.  These cool weaving projects are included.
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These watercolor trees and paper bag tree sculptures are just a sampling of our work.  Circle looms and weaving is our next big project.


5/6 Art
This age group has looked at the work of Robert McCall and Keith Haring and created work in response to their art.  McCall, an artist for NASA inspired the spacescapes, and Haring inspired the chalk and glue drawings.

7/8 Art
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A game changer for 7th and 8th graders was the transition from writing lab to art lab in January.  Students got an extra studio day to work on art projects, giving us more time for more art!  We spent a lot of time practicing portrait drawing, creating surrealistic environments, and are now working on a proposal for a choice based project that will be completed independently.  I can't wait to see the creations of our imaginative students.

Above are an example of the copper flowers and watercolor parrots that were made in 7/8 art.

As I am preparing for second quarter, I wanted to take some time to reflect on the successes of first quarter.  Every student contributed an original fish for our collaborative wall display.  Those will be coming down, to make room for new artwork to brighten the halls of ASU Prep.  

Kindergarten
The Kindergarten kiddos have had the opportunity to explore with art materials.  They made a drawing out of a scribble.
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After some cutting practice, we read If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and used cut paper to make a plate of pancakes for the pig in the story.

Kindergarten students also learned about bugs, and how to use shapes and patterns to draw them.   They also had a great time reading about Pete the Cat and learning to draw our favorite cool cat.

Third and Fourth Grade
We've spent some time talking about portraits, self portraits, and how most artists create a self portrait at some point in their careers.  We read about Frida Kahlo, and a book about moods and emotions by the actress Jamie Lee Curtis, Today I Feel Silly.  Some classes have been creating expression portraits that show an emotion, and are colored in warm and cool colors.  Other classes began their art portfolio covers, after learning about positive and negative space.  Their covers emphasize the negative space instead of the traditional positive space emphasis.

Fifth and Sixth Grade
These classes have been working on Art Portfolio covers as well, but these classes used bubble or block lettering filled with a variety of zentangles.  Zentangle is just a trendy term for patterns and designs.  

Seventh and Eighth Grade
Art Portfolios were the focus for these classes as well.  Students used personification lettering, or picture letters to write their names on their portfolios.  The pictures were images that show something about their interests, hobbies, and personalities.

All classes from Kinder to 7/8 began the school year creating their own, unique fish to contribute to the wall.  Our banner reads:  We May Be Different Fish, But in this School, We Swim Together.  We read the book Only One You by Linda Kranz, and talked about how important it is to be yourself, and love who you are.  The students enjoy finding their fish, among the hundreds swimming on our wall!

Let me introduce myself, my name is Stormy Olsen and I am new to ASU Prep this year.  I previously taught at San Tan Elementary in the Higley District.  Prior to becoming a highly qualified art teacher, I spent many years working in the Chandler Unified School District as a Para Educator, a Substitute Teacher, and a Long Term Sub.  My favorite jobs were teaching art as a long term sub, and that ultimately helped me make the decision to enter the Teacher Education program to be certified in teaching what I have loved since a child:  Art.  I pursued an art degree from ASU in the early 90s, and feel like I am finally fulfilling my purpose, sharing my love of art with youngsters.

Coming to ASU Prep, I am learning a lot of new names, and getting to know each child.  I have a lot of fun things planned for this year.  I am very proud to share our adventures in the art room on our Instagram page.  Please follow @asu.prep.art to see what we are doing.

Last week we had a BIG surprise!  I teach my classes about the book Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg.

It's all about celebrating mistakes.  Well, the one and only, Barney Saltzberg himself saw it, and asked if he could send something to us at school!  So I private messaged the address at school, and a few days later, a packaged arrived with an autographed poster, an original "Oops" artwork, bookmarks, pencils, and a very kind note.  He was so happy to hear that we use his book in our classroom.  I usually do a whole unit with my first graders on making art from oopses.  It's so much fun!

I am already loving ASU Prep!  This is going to be a great year!!