Each year my colleagues and I set professional goals in addition to student learning goals. For the school year 2014-15 I focused on arts advocacy. Here's what my Professional Practice SMART Goal looked like: This year I am focusing on arts advocacy especially in the interest of celebrating the creativity and efforts of the art students here in Millis. To accomplish this I will:
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Some specifics: 1. Artsonia continues to host the Millis High School online art gallery and is enjoyed, to varying degrees, by many parents, students and others in our community. I was excited to see that just today we surpassed over 40,000 visitors to the site! We raise a small amount of $$ on Artsonia - usually just enough to support our continued annual membership in the National Art Education Association and if there is any leftover I can purchase small keepsakes/awards or supplies for students. The "Classroom Mode" feature has been a great time-saving addition to Artsonia and all of my Art, Design and New Media students submit their own work - I just approve it. Notably missing from the Artsonia gallery is AP and Advanced Studio artwork as well as Photography. Those students publish their work in blogs (tab over on this site). Upon reflection, I may reconsider this, as I think those pieces would be a great addition. And as a side note - we are the #1 participating high school in Massachusetts! |
3. The National Art Honor Society is up and running. We graduated 7 of our 9 members and look forward to adding several this year at our February Empty Bowls event. The candidates are active participants and, so far this year, have painted a large mural and made the decorations for the Senior Citizen's Holiday Party. It's a great group and going forward I hope it becomes more and more student driven as they embrace the mission of Scholarship, Character and Service (and raising awareness of arts education in the community).
4. With the help of graduating senior, Marlee, we had a very successful art show in May. The opening had the feel of a coffeehouse with live music and it was true community celebration of the arts. At the suggestion of our awesome new library director, we are even having a mid-year show right now (...in December, I know...). Alex Lent has done a fabulous job making the Millis Public Library a vibrant center for the town of Millis and I know how fortunate we are to have such a great space to display our artwork! About 25 friends and family came to our Thursday night opening! And the good news is that the display will be up all month if you missed the opening! 5. Other opportunities for art students are arising all the time. We participated in the Vans Custom shoes contest this year, 2 student attended Art All-State and 6 students entered the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition. One received a Silver Key and another received Honorable Mention. I expect more to enter this year (the deadline is fast approaching - 12/15/15). Danielle Mannion and I took over 50 students to see the Science of Pixar exhibit at the Museum of Science a few weeks ago. Here's a little recap of that field trip created by a student. More trips are in the planning stages, too! |
If you create something, whether it's a painting or a company, I think if you care about it, you have some obligation to go out and tell people about it.
Daniel H. Pink