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ABS Thursday Notes- November 9, 2023

Published for the Arts Based School Community

November 9, 2023


No School Nov 10: Veterans’ Day


Friday, Nov 17- Early Dismissal-Conferences

  • K-4 Dismiss at 11:45
  • 5-8 Dismiss at 12 noon

No School-Thanksgiving Break Nov 20-24



How We Do It and Why

By Mary Siebert


“The difference between a good picture and a mediocre picture is a millimeter.”

 - Henri Cartier-Breson


Diana Greene is a freelance artist and documentarian who has taught her original curriculum to ABS students for nearly two decades. As a visiting artist, she pairs high expectations with warm, individualized attention. She draws surprisingly fresh ideas from students, helping them value their perspectives and encouraging them to follow their projects through to glistening completion. She has a beautiful eye for possibility, and teaches persistence in realizing it.


Ms. Greene is just beginning her annual project with our 4th graders, funded this year by a grant from the State Arts Council. After countless workshop-style classes from 4th grade to high school, from Winston-Salem to Malta, from our school to the international Pulitzer Center she still brings deft skill, but also a freshness to each class that reveals a genuine love for her work with young students. 


She teaches the students about the art of photography by sharing examples of the work of great photographers and the work of her own students, discussing “the decisive moment” as described by Henri Carier-Breson; and embodied in his photography, like this shot.


Diana interacts with the world artistically and professionally not only through images, but also through writing. She helps students discover the shared territory between capturing a decisive moment through photography, and capturing it through small details in the written word. They use, as a subject, themselves. What could be more fascinating, more confusing, more challenging than looking directly at yourself, when you are a tween, trembling on the verge of adolescence? 


With our classroom teachers, Ms. Greene assists young students to take a small, breathless leap: looking at themselves as others might see them, and comparing that to who they know themselves to be from the inside. Students will write about these two points of view, using small details to reveal big ideas. They also stage a visual frame of themselves, guiding a partner to photograph them within this frame, creating a self-portrait in both words and images which will be combined for display. When these are ready for you to view, gallery-style, we will let you know about it here. 


As adults, we know that this life-long inquiry about who we are vs. who we appear to be is a constant one, sometimes perplexing or painful. How enriching for our students, to develop artistic tools, visual and written, that can serve them along this journey!

 

 

Picture Day-November 28

Smile!  November 28 is Picture Day!  All students will be photographed to be included in the school’s yearbook. To order pictures online, please visit www.strawbridge.net, click the red “Order Pictures and Yearbooks” button, and enter code  FM425176. 

 

Prospective Parent Tours

School tours for prospective parents begin in October. They are scheduled weekly on Tuesdays at 9:30am at South Campus and Thursdays at 9:30am at North Campus. Each tour is limited to 10 adults in an effort to limit the disruption to our students and teachers in the classrooms. Parents interested in learning more about ABS and how to enroll their child, should contact the front office to sign up for a tour. 748-4116 ext 1023. Applications will be accepted beginning January 1. The lottery will be held the second Tuesday of February. 

 

Mad Science K-2

 

DISCOVER THE NASA ACADEMY OF FUTURE SPACE EXPLORERS!

Take a voyage of discovery into the atmosphere and beyond! Explore planets, moons and other space phenomena in our solar system. Discover the difficulties of space travel, the challenges of living in space and try assembling a satellite while training to be an astronaut. Build exciting space travel, take homes like rockets and shuttle copters, and see a launch. Students will have lots of projects to make and to take home, plus - Mad Science is the ONLY organization licensed to use these activities for summer camps and school programs. All material developed by Mad Science and NASA. See more in this fun video!

Mad Science will run December 6-February 7 on Wednesdays at BOTH campuses from 2:30-4:00 (no class on 12/20 & 12/27).  The cost for this program is $130/child. 

Register for your campus here!  

 

Around Town

A Christmas Carol The Little Theatre's presents A Christmas Carol star-studded with ABS students.. The link to tickets is below! 

https://ci.ovationtix.com/36350/production/1149960?performanceId=11232977



Nutcracker Tea Party

UNCSA’s Preparatory Dance program offers a fun, 45 minute suite of dances from The Nutcracker featuring their young students, with a tea party afterwards, where visitors can meet the characters. Learn more HERE, or visit uncsa.edu/nutcrackertea


Ways to get involved and learn more about ABS:


 

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