Mixed Media & Margaritas Event

Art Education DC (AEDC) is the Washington, DC chapter of the greater, National Art Education Association. This past Saturday, AEDC held a professional development day for it’s members and artist community of DC called “Mixed Media and Margaritas”. Held at The Arc, a local community center which houses various programs, classes, and partnerships located in South East DC, it was a lively event filled with laughter, curiosity, and excitement about the many art supplies and techniques featured on this beautiful day in May.  Attendees of the professional development enjoyed free-creation through mini-lessons on the use of some amazing supplies all donated from Dick Blick Art Supply and Jack Richeson while sipping on margaritas and munching on chips, salsa, and some delicious guacamole.   I had a great time at the event mingling and networking with people from all over the district and even Virginia as well.  Check out some of my favorite moments capture through the lens (some even through my new 85mm f/1.8 lens!!)

 

As you can see, it was quite the event filled with creativity, a sense of community, and loads of fun!  We even had the pleasure of having our tiniest board member join as pictured above trying a lime for the first time!  Surprisingly, she loved it and devoured it!  The AEDC board would like to again extend a tremendous THANK YOU! to both Dick Blick Art Supplies and Jack Richeson Art Supplies.  Without their generous donations, this event would not have been possible.  In addition, a huge shout out to the board members of AEDC and the art educators from across the district who came out for this event!  Be sure to check back to the AEDC website for future events like this that you won’t want to miss!

Bancroft Elementary School: DC SCORES!

As some of you know, I spend my days teaching visual arts to an amazing group of students in grades Pre-School through Fifth grade.  Part of being a teacher, is not just commitment and investment in your students during the 8:00-3:30 school day, but also beyond the normal school day into extracurricular activities.  DC SCORES is the Washington, DC affiliate of the greater non-profit organization America SCORES.  The organization is in many different states, and throughout schools within the District of Columbia.  Students can first join in the third grade, and the program extends through middle school age.  DC SCORES has been a program within my school since before I began over three years ago.  Students are a team within this program but they don’t just play soccer. Students grow and learn in a multitude of ways.  In addition to learning skills of sportsmanship and honing their soccer abilities, students participate in a service learning project and an annual poetry slam.  Coaches are typically community members and teachers from the building which provides students and teachers a different environment to build a trusting and positive relationship with one another.

Thursdays are game days.  Students arrive to Bancroft typically in full uniform, counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds until the games start at 4pm.  Morning arrival typically occurs for me with each player asking, “are you coming to our game Ms. Foy?!” my response is “YES! where is the game today?” and to that I’m told “umm, I don’t know, I don’t remember.  It’s going to be awesome though!  Ask Coach Guzman!”.  There’s something about the huge smile on their faces, and eagerness to power through the day that the DC SCORES players bring every Thursday that is contagious and spreads throughout their classrooms.

I arrive on the field (usually late by 15 minutes, but hey, it’s DC and traffic is annoying let alone parking!) and as soon as I’m spotted, my attention is directed to the mass of yellow jerseys yelling”Look, it’s Ms. Foy!” and “HEY! Ms. Foy, OVER HERE!”.  No matter how many times you tell a student you’re coming to the game, they still act completely shocked but thrilled when they first realize you’re actually there!  Game days are not just about the student athletes bonding, and working together but also about parental involvement and community.  Parents who come to the game have the time to casually converse and interact while cheering on their student.  These games have really helped me build relationships with parents.  It’s turned into tutoring for me in ways as many of our parents speak Spanish primarily, so it gives me the chance to work on my Spanish. I could go on for a long time explaining the many ways DC SCORES strengthens my school community, but I’ll just end with a glimpse through the lens on game day…

 

A Special thanks to DC SCORES leadership for supporting me in this post!  Looking for a way to make a difference?

Consider a donation to help fund this amazing program!

San Diego: Zoo Adventures!

My last post about the adventure to San Diego Zoo was one which is not typical of a day at the zoo.  If you remember, I showed the images of monkeys which some could consider to be sad, or depressing like those in an animal rights ad.  Well, of course the zoo was not an unhappy place, so below, you will find some of my favorite shots from the rest of my day at the zoo!  I was so impressed with the number of animals the zoo had in addition to the awesome “sky-fari” they had which went from one end of the zoo, to the other.  I will say, I thought the pandas would be my favorite but I was wrong.  I fell in love with adorable koala bears!  Check it out below!

 

Hello San Diego!

I recently traveled to San Diego, California for the National Art Education Association’s (NAEA) 2014 National Convention.  I’ve been influenced by the NAEA in many ways beginning in high school where I had amazing art teachers, who were members of the NAEA.  I remember when they attended the national convention while I was in school.   They would come back with this glow and excitement.  I knew, when I became an art teacher, I was going to go to the conference and figure out what was so inspiring!  With the amazing support of my administration and PTA, I not only was able to attend in San Diego this year, but also the 2012, and 2013 conventions as well.  I’ll have three blog posts on my trip to San Diego and the sights I saw while I was there. ( In between my conference sessions and such of course!)

This post as you can see, is all about the nature and plants I saw in San Diego!  The colors are AMAZING!  Each plant is so unique and these are just my all time favorites!!