August 25, 2010
Parents and Guardians:
It is always an exciting time when we get to start a new school year. I am looking forward to this year, the learning that will occur, the relationships that will form and even the challenges that will arise.
Beyond covering the nuts and bolts of the curriculum, it is our goal for each student to become visually literate (to cope with this increasingly visual world), to become intellectual and creative risk-takers, and find out about his/her self, each other, his/her culture and the culture of others. I believe that art, of all types, is a critical lens through which students will view the world, understand culture and make meaning from their experiences. Also, nurturing creativity is necessary to promote their success in an ever-changing society and economy. One of the individuals that I model my teaching philosophy after is an author named Sir Ken Robinson who said, “My contention is that creativity is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.”
There are some ways that we can all help. First, each student has been given a list of supplies (embedded in the course syllabus) they will need. I have kept this list as minimal as possible, however, if your student is going to have trouble getting these supplies, they can feel free to talk to me and we will work something out. In addition, there are some things that we can always use in the classroom. So if you would like to help out by sending any of these items to school with your student, it would be appreciated.
- plastic shopping bags
- facial tissue
- magazines
- scraps of fabric
- used comic books (please don't send anything that you want returned)
- small plastic containers such as film canisters, clean plastic jars with lids etc.
- other items, that you would otherwise throw away that you think we may have a use for.
Thank you,
Brad Ellebracht
Art Department
Mexico High School
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