I am proud to announce that four BCWMS students received recognition (and a $100 price each) for the 2015 Sooper Art Contest! This competition is celebrating its' 5th year of honoring student work that highlights environmental issues. We have been participating in the contest each year, with students receiving recognition in four of the years. The winning work can be found on the Sooper Yooper Flickr page as well as displayed at the GRAM for the awards ceremony on May 16th.
0 Comments
Yesterday was the 47th Annual Michigan Student Film Festival at the Detroit Film Theater in the DIA. I had never been to the theater, so it was a real treat to be in such a historic place and really take in the glamor of the architectural details. If you ever get a chance to visit, make sure to get to the upper level so you can take in the view of the whole glimmering theater. For the film festival, the Best of Show winners were shown and awards were handed out. It was a thrill that to see two of my students videos displayed and at least one student able to make it over from the other side of the state to represent our group. Thank you again to Jewel and her dad for making the trip and representing BCWMS in a great way! I have been to quite a few awards ceremonies over the 11 years I have been teaching, and I have to say that DAFT puts on one of the best, most organized, and fun awards show I have ever experienced. I would like to thank them for not only honoring the students, teachers, and families of those who won, but to do it in complete class and style. They had a great pace and representation of speakers that included DAFT president, DAFT teacher of the year, and actor Dave Davies. They fully explained how the awards were decided and what each level meant so that first-timers like me could understand what it all means. They also included highlights of what former winners are doing in the Film Industry as well specific feedback for EVERY video to help aspiring film-makers reflect and improve on their craft and vision. I was really blown away with the level of insight and professionalism that the young award winners were treated with by this organization. I am already thinking of how we can enter even more works next year! In the spirit of Earth Day, both 7th and 8th grade students worked on finishing environmental pieces this week, some of which will make it to the Sooper Art Competition. The timing for this project and competition are perfect to get students thinking about their environment and how they can positively impact the future through their present actions. 47th Annual Michigan Student Film FestivalThis is the first year we have entered student work in the State Film Festival. For years, our High School program has participated in the event with great success, leading the way for my students to get involved and be successful, too. I am proud to announce that we had 10 videos receive recognition, with 29 students involved in the creation of those films. We want to extend a special thanks to the Byron Center Fine Arts Boosters who sponsored our competition entries. The BCWMS winners are featured below: Junior Best of ShowJunior ExcellenceJunior HonorMAEA State WinnersSaturday we celebrated the Elementary and Middle Level winners for the Michigan Art Education Association State show. It was fun to celebrate with students and see so many parents and families travel across the state to join in the success of their artists at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. This competition is a process that starts in each region with teachers selecting 5 works to compete from their school, work is then juried in that region with some moving onto state adjudication, afterwards the work is then narrowed to the Top 15 for grade groups. This is the second year we have had two students in the Top 15 and the third year we have had any Top 15 finalists for Middle school work. It is with great pride that I share our two winners from BCWMS for the 2015 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. This is the first year we have had multiple winners from our school and the first year that any medal has been GOLD, which both students earned!
If you would like to learn more about what it means to win, please check on this post from last year when we celebrated our Silver medalist, Makenzie Reid. We will find out on March 30th if students are able to attend the event and then will begin the fast and furious fundraising it takes to get there. I am incredibly proud of this accomplishment and look forward to celebrating this success! This would not have been made possible without the strength of our Visual Arts team, support of Administration and the larger community, as well as the support of our Fine Arts Boosters who helped pay for the admission fees of this competition. There are a lot of exciting things happening with student work this month. In addition to finding out that two of our MAEA State qualifiers made it into the top 15 for the State, it is also time to vote for the Meijer Great Choices Film Festival. Last year, we won first place in all of the categories. With your help and votes, we can do it again! Please take a moment and vote for our videos and help our classroom win! In addition to these great opportunities, Nate is up for Artsonia's Artist of the Week this week. You can vote for his abstract drawing daily until Saturday!
Today was an awesome day. I got to spend time celebrating the accomplishments of my students with their families and other talented teens from around the state of Michigan. I am so proud of this group of kids, who have raked in the most recognition in BCWMS history, and know their creative futures are bright as they take this honor and build many more great things upon it. The part that brings me the most pride form this year's award-winning works is how little I had to do with their making. This may be a funny thing for me to admit, being that I am their teacher, but what I mean is all of the winning works were based around broad themes I gave to students in which they designed, planned, and executed works from their interpretation of that theme on their own. I may have assisted with feedback, demonstration of skill, and supplying both time and space to do it, but the creative ideas were solely theirs. This would not have been possible without the support of the entire Visual Arts team at BCPS, including our Administrative team and Byron Center Fine Arts Boosters. I also have to give a major shout-out to my professional learning community of Art teachers from around the world on Twitter and Facebook that has encouraged me and my students with great feedback along the way. Check out the highlights from this afternoon's ceremony: Students are working on videos that are being created to inform their peers about making quality choices both in life and online. This project is funded through a MACUL grant that helped us purchase cameras, tripods, and other accessories like SD cards. Videos will be complete just in time to compete in the Meijer Great Choices Junior Film Competition, The Digital ID PSA Challenge, and the DAFT Film Festival! Before filming, animating, or editing their films, students brainstorm ideas based on the topics outlined in the competitions. We also learned some basics involving the process on the CheckThis poster found here. Students then worked together to create a script, make a storyboard, and plan a production schedule. The best part of teaching this is explaining that you do not need to film in order (rarely any film gets made that way) and seeing students group scenes together and plan out how they are going to divide up the work. Students document the process by making notes on their storyboards and production schedules each day to track progress and see what is left to do. Students will be creating the footage for the next few days before putting it together in iMovie, editing, and submitting it to the various competitions. Tonight was the Michigan Art Education Association Region 9 Highlight Show at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Parents, teachers, family, and friends flocked to the GRAM to view the best K-12 student work from Ottawa, Allegan, Ionia, and Montcalm, and Kent Counties on display throughout the museum. This was the first year all six Byron Center Public School buildings were represented with student work on display. Four students from WMS were recognized at the show and three will have their work move onto State adjudication. I am so proud of the work my students did and it was incredibly fun to share their success with their families this evening. I also want to extend a special thank you to all of the BCPS administrators who attended the reception, especially Superintendent Dan Takens, Assistant Superintendent Kevin Macina, and Curriculum Director Kari Anama. Our students and I are thankful for the support we have from our school leaders and look forward to continuing the tradition of excellence as work moves onto the next level of competition. Gold KeysToday was a snow day, but students still were able to find the results for the 2015 West Central Michigan Scholastic Art Awards. Work will be on display at Kendall College of Art and Design through the month of February and the awards ceremony will occur on February 28th. Gold Keys will move onto the next level of competition and national winners will be announced this Spring. Congratulations to all of the students who participated! I have submitted work to this competition for the last eight years and this was by far our most successful one. With 23 winning pieces, our Middle School was the most decorated from all Middle Schools in the region. With 41 winning works, BCPS was the most recognized district in Kent Country and third most in the region. I would like to extend a special thank you to The Byron Center Fine Arts Boosters who helped sponsor student entries as well as the students, parents, and BCPS educational team who foster such a creative environment for our students to explore and enact ideas like the winning works below. You Decide - Film and Animation, Bre Coval and Jordan Cooper Silver KeysHonorable Mentions |
Archives
August 2018
Janine CampbellTeaching Visual Arts since 2004 and making images since picking up a crayon. Categories
All
|