Chalk Festival and the Art of Drawing on Sidewalks

By Isabel1215

By Riley3972

By Brigit17

 I've attended Cleveland Museum of Art's Chalk Festival over the years in everything from  soaked- to- the- skin downpours to bone-crushing heat, so Saturday's  temperate climate felt like a smile spread across a perfect day.  When drawings were completed, some of the kids looked like they were camouflaged in pastels.   Fortunately, rigorously applied baby wipes restored them to their  recognizable selves.   Inside the museum,  my students scoured the art collection in a wicked little scavenger hunt.  It's rather gratifying to see kids reading didactic labels and comparing the merits of various pieces in order to find answers to clues.  Since all four teams tied for first place, my lollipops were evenly distributed at the end of the day.   I'm  really not a competitive person, so everyone "winning" was just fine with me.

The Art of the Cart and Kindergarten Parade

Yellow Day Parade with Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Amann

Big yellow buses cruising my neighborhood signal the change of seasons - and the beginning of another school year at LCCS.    My first two days zipped by in a blur of rules,  procedures, and PowerPoints.  Despite a schedule with shortened periods on Friday, I decided that Art 1 would dive into the first assignment. Strolling into what I thought would be an empty art room with 20 minutes to spare, I met an entire classroom of perky little first graders  raptly listening to our elementary art teacher, Miss R.  I subdued an unnecessary adrenaline rush with the mantra, "Don't panic."   When there are two principals integrating a complex matrix of elementary and secondary schedules for one art room and different  teachers, collisions occasionally happen.  We always work something out.

A quick check with the main office confirmed that we had a double-booking situation.  Since altering the space-time continuum isn't a viable option, I quickly loaded an art cart with supplies.  Proceeding to round up my kids, we made a cozy impromptu classroom flanking the main hallway.

With the added bonus of  new kindergartners parading through our ranks down the corridor, things were  moving forward surprisingly well until I realized that half of my brand new 2B pencils weren't sharpened.  Minor problem - nary a pencil sharpener on the cart, nor in sight.  As a former girl scout, I can assure you that the motto "Be prepared" didn't take into consideration this particular contingency.  Fortunately, I have adaptable kids and a sense of humor,  so we made it work.  Next week we'll be back in the art room, but I wouldn't be adverse to another kindergarten parade past our door.