LEMON SPRINGS, NC - Shauna McNeil’s art classes at Greenwood Elementary are always geared toward building student skills. Whether the skills are hands-on work with clay or conceptual with depth, lines, and perspective, her lessons help students engage with things in new and different ways.
That is why it is not a surprise that one of her major class projects for fourth and fifth graders invites students to explore the skill of having gratitude in their lives. The application of this skill is directed specifically towards teachers and administrators that have helped them to get where they are in their educational careers.
“This idea actually came from another art teacher who did a very similar project. I loved this idea so much that I had to take it and adapt it, turning it into my own thing,” said McNeil. “I really love teaching students how to create the correct proportions of the face, but I also love getting them excited about their teachers. Having them interested in who those teachers are as a person, making special things on these portraits that are unique about them, makes this project really cool.”
Students get to choose the teacher that they would like to draw, and they are able to select unique things about their teacher, sketching them into the portrait to highlight unique interests or traits.
McNeil explained, “I love that part, because you get to see little parts of the personality of these teachers. You will see little turtles on some because that teacher really likes turtles, or like with the physical education teacher you will have all sorts of sports balls. I think it is just a really cool thing to see things like that in kids’ art.”
As with any project like this, some teachers or administrators get multiple drawings. Mrs. McNeil lets those teachers choose which drawing will be highlighted in one of her special “Golden Frames” and displayed in the hallway outside her classroom on the “Portraits of Gratitude” display.
One of those students who was selected by her teacher to be spotlighted in a Golden Frame, a fourth grader, Alyssa G., drew her portrait of her third grade teacher, Candace Bloedorn. Alyssa noted she was her favorite teacher because of how she helped her in math last year. “She was very funny, and I learned a lot from her class.” She remembered activities like “rounding mountain” that helped her learn new math skills. “She’s funny, and pretty. She’s just happy. I loved her class.”
Bloedorn remembered fondly about how hard Alyssa worked in her class, especially overcoming transferring into the school just prior to the start of her third grade year. “She came in and had some things that we needed to cover and just make up for the last few years, but she always put forth her best effort.” Bloedorn added, “Her personality came out more and more throughout the year. She was very quiet to begin with, but always very respectful, and has a great sense of humor.”
McNeil noted, “I actually love to see the growth in each student because we start practicing just drawing faces. You know, at first we practice putting the eyes halfway down the head. Then you can see their artistic ability grow a little bit, from having a picture that looks like nobody to having it look like somebody you can recognize. Even if it is not a perfect portrait, you know it is that person. That part is really the fun part.”
“It is really humbling because she is such a sweet girl,” said Mrs. Bloedorn. “Just that she remembered what we did last year and to know that maybe I even played a part in changing her feelings about math just from being with us last year really means a lot to me.”
The project really is building art skills, but it brings out so much more, giving students an opportunity to honor someone that has helped them at Greenwood. McNeil said, “I hope that they learn to appreciate their teachers and to see them as more than just teachers, but as people.”