Art class at the Menlo site this week is learning to create art as service! The students are in groups creating signs for local animal shelters about the merits of adoption. One student told me, "Our paintings are going to hang outside so everybody who walks by wants to adopt!"They started out the week learning how to sketch animals. Then, they had to put those skills to work in order to come up with a sign with a catchy phrase encouraging animal-lovers to adopt. Now they are in the final phase, painting and coloring in their sketches on canvas so that they can be donated at the end of the week.
The kids are having of fun working on the different stages of the project. They are also growing as team members. I watched as three boys decided together what color every part of the sign should be and then enacted a plan to get it all done. In describing his painting, one student said, "We chose to combine Francisco's drawing of the head of the dog with Pablo and my
drawing of the body". They decided well -- it turned out great!
Learning art, helping the community, having fun in groups - there's nothing better!