Each month, the art teachers from Altamont Elementary, Guilderland Elementary, Lynnwood Elementary and Westmere Elementary highlight students who have demonstrated they are practicing Studio Habits of Mind. These eight habits – develop craft, engage and persist, envision, express, observe, reflect, stretch and explore, and understand art worlds – encourage and enable students to be more mindful during the creative process. This is not a contest; the Young Artist of the Month accomplishment acknowledges specific learning and critical thinking that happens in the art room, in relation to Studio Habits of Mind. The students’ pictures and statements are framed and hung in the schools’ entryways.
Altamont Elementary: Aayushi Gorkal
Altamont Elementary is proud to announce Aayushi Gorkal in Mrs. Nowak’s second grade class as our Young Artist of the Month! Aayushi has been doing a fantastic job at expressing herself through her artwork. When you express yourself artistically, you are communicating your own ideas, beliefs and feelings in your artwork in unique ways. Aayushi always goes above and beyond to make her artwork colorful and bright and she always has a story behind her work! She has been practicing ways to improve her artwork outside of art class too! Excellent job Aayushi!
Guilderland Elementary: Jerry Gao
The March featured artist is Jerry Gao. Jerry is in Mrs. Galiatsos’ third grade class. Jerry has demonstrated the Artist Habit of Mind, Engage and Persist. That means that he has been able to focus in art class and embrace the art problems we encounter in class. Jerry already has excellent drawing skills but he continues to push himself to get better and better. He tries out multiple ideas for his work before deciding on a final plan. Jerry also exhibits the Artist Habit of Mind, develop craft. He works on his own outside of class to develop his skills and it shows in his classwork. Way to go Jerry! Keep up the hard work.
Lynnwood Elementary: Noah Ally
The Lynnwood Young Artist for the month of March is Noah Ally. Noah is a first grade student in Mrs. Brady’s class! Noah embodies the Studio Habits of Mind; to develop craft and skills as well as to persist. To develop craft and skills means to learn how to use tools and techniques of artists. And to persist means to stick with something, even when it is hard. Noah listens very carefully to Mrs. Gillis and her instructions during each class. He does his best to follow her directions to learn how to use all the new materials we try out. He experiments with the materials and uses his creativity to make something imaginative. He persists by trying again and again to get it right. He puts in his best effort every class and Mrs. Gillis can always count on him to be a role model to his classmates. Keep up the amazing work Noah!
Westmere Elementary: David Zieba
This month’s featured young artist is David Zieba! David is in Mrs. Durocher’s second grade class. He has demonstrated the Studio Habit of Mind: Envision.
Second grade students had the chance to sculpt a sweet treat for somebody they care about. David envisioned what he wanted his cupcake to look like before creating it. He thought about what his person’s favorite flavor would be — mint chocolate chip. Cool cupcake, David!