January 13th, 2018
21ST CENTURY CLASSROOM
Finding world peace through the arts
By ANDE TAGLIAMONTE
Special to the Messenger
ST. ALBANS — Fall at St. Albans City School is an exciting and invigorating time to be both a student and a teacher. We all get a chance to begin a path to a new school year and for many, fall is a fresh start, just like the changing of a calendar to a new year.
For sixth grade artists, the fall means continuing a tradition of participating in the Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest. The tradition of celebrating international peace through drawing and painting grants young artists the opportunity start the school year off right, with the inspiring idea of world peace.
This year’s poster competition was an excellent showcase of student talent. In addition, the contest serves as a great opportunity to strengthen our community connection with the Swanton-Missisquoi Lions Club, who sponsors our school’s contest. This connection keeps students engaged at both a local and community level and serves as a simple way for students to become part of the larger picture of world peace.
For the contest, students are asked to represent an annual theme through a individual drawing or painting. Students take images such as a dove, international flags or a peace sign and translate them into thoughtful artistic work.
This year’s theme, “The Future of Peace,” served as a wonderful starting point for conversations and artistic expression within our art classroom. Students used ideas from years past to develop their own ideas, which showed maturity and seriousness about the task. Each student focused on creating a unified design and persevered even when a design did not come out as planned to strive to make their own unique poster entry.
At the end of the project, there were 24 contest entries with many fabulous standouts each unique among the artists at City School.
In the weeks that followed submitting the poster entries, students waited patiently as the the Swanton-Missisquoi Valley Lions Club made their decisions about a winner. Camryn Bushey, won first place for the local contest. Her design went on to the state level contest where she won third place for the State of Vermont. Camryn’s design was an amazing depiction of a powerful bird rising over a peace symbol of international flags.
The second place winner was Brianna Shover who painted a celestial scene with a dove as the centerpiece. Lionel Dawson won third place for his bright and energetic design done completely in marker. In addition, Ivy Hoang received an honorable mention for her stellar depiction of this year’s theme and use of digital media.
By early December, Mr. Ody LaRoche, president of the Swanton Missisquoi Valley Lions Club returned to City School to deliver the poster designs and share his congratulations to all who participated. The three winners were each given an award and a check for their artistic efforts in representing this year’s theme. In addition, each student who participated was given a certificate for his or her participation in the contest as well as a certificate of participation for St. Albans City School for their efforts in supporting the Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest.
A big thank you to the sixth grade students who participated in the contest this year! In addition, City School would also like to thank Mr. Ody LaRoche and the Swanton-Missisquoi Valley Lions Club for their generosity and support in this contest every year. The Peace Poster contest is a wonderful way to expose our students to the ideas of world peace and a great way to connect to our local community.
Thank you for your continued support of our students and their artistic work! -- Ande Tagliamonte is an art/STEAM teacher at St. Albans City School.
Finding world peace through the arts
By ANDE TAGLIAMONTE
Special to the Messenger
ST. ALBANS — Fall at St. Albans City School is an exciting and invigorating time to be both a student and a teacher. We all get a chance to begin a path to a new school year and for many, fall is a fresh start, just like the changing of a calendar to a new year.
For sixth grade artists, the fall means continuing a tradition of participating in the Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest. The tradition of celebrating international peace through drawing and painting grants young artists the opportunity start the school year off right, with the inspiring idea of world peace.
This year’s poster competition was an excellent showcase of student talent. In addition, the contest serves as a great opportunity to strengthen our community connection with the Swanton-Missisquoi Lions Club, who sponsors our school’s contest. This connection keeps students engaged at both a local and community level and serves as a simple way for students to become part of the larger picture of world peace.
For the contest, students are asked to represent an annual theme through a individual drawing or painting. Students take images such as a dove, international flags or a peace sign and translate them into thoughtful artistic work.
This year’s theme, “The Future of Peace,” served as a wonderful starting point for conversations and artistic expression within our art classroom. Students used ideas from years past to develop their own ideas, which showed maturity and seriousness about the task. Each student focused on creating a unified design and persevered even when a design did not come out as planned to strive to make their own unique poster entry.
At the end of the project, there were 24 contest entries with many fabulous standouts each unique among the artists at City School.
In the weeks that followed submitting the poster entries, students waited patiently as the the Swanton-Missisquoi Valley Lions Club made their decisions about a winner. Camryn Bushey, won first place for the local contest. Her design went on to the state level contest where she won third place for the State of Vermont. Camryn’s design was an amazing depiction of a powerful bird rising over a peace symbol of international flags.
The second place winner was Brianna Shover who painted a celestial scene with a dove as the centerpiece. Lionel Dawson won third place for his bright and energetic design done completely in marker. In addition, Ivy Hoang received an honorable mention for her stellar depiction of this year’s theme and use of digital media.
By early December, Mr. Ody LaRoche, president of the Swanton Missisquoi Valley Lions Club returned to City School to deliver the poster designs and share his congratulations to all who participated. The three winners were each given an award and a check for their artistic efforts in representing this year’s theme. In addition, each student who participated was given a certificate for his or her participation in the contest as well as a certificate of participation for St. Albans City School for their efforts in supporting the Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest.
A big thank you to the sixth grade students who participated in the contest this year! In addition, City School would also like to thank Mr. Ody LaRoche and the Swanton-Missisquoi Valley Lions Club for their generosity and support in this contest every year. The Peace Poster contest is a wonderful way to expose our students to the ideas of world peace and a great way to connect to our local community.
Thank you for your continued support of our students and their artistic work! -- Ande Tagliamonte is an art/STEAM teacher at St. Albans City School.