Riverside Central Elementary
A Community School Connection, November, 2018
In this Newletter
2. Mural Update
2. Riverside Partners with The People's Food Co-Op and Friedell Middle School
3. Wilderness Inquiry and Art4Trails Days
4. Thanks to Old Abe Coffee for Coat Drive!
5. Upcoming Events! Check it out!
Mentorship, A Student Perspective
Green Thumb Initiative students from ALC along with their teachers Liz Quackenbush and Katie Sloan have been supporting Riverside students, on four separate days to create a collaborative tree for Festival of Trees, benefitting people with disabilities. Each day for one hour, two Riverside classes circulate through decoration stations students have created, mostly from natural found-objects. It's been really positive experience for all students. Below are two student perspectives.
By Dae Dae, ALC Student
It feels good seeing kids happy, seeing kids doing things that they like to do. I didn't get to have those experiences when I was a kid so it feels good for me to see smiles on kids faces. Seeing kids laughing and having a good time. Kids like being dirty, they love glitter and getting messy. You can look into some of these kids eyes and see how they love school. Like with Jackson, he probably went home and told his family, "My big buddy helped me today!" Yeah, that makes me feel good.
I like seeing my friends with the kids too. You can see how they act in front of their friends, but then they put on a show. In front of the little kids they are nice and cute and do what the kids want to do. They jump out of their comfort zone. I noticed that.
I have been through a lot of things so now I just want to give back to my community. Make sure everybody is happy.
By Jackson, Riverside Kindergartner
I loved working with my big buddy. He was really cool and he has really good building skills. I think it was cool building everything. Building things is one of my favorite things about life. Maybe Dae Dae was my partner because he liked to build and he thought I had good building skills too.
Mural: The Good News and the Bad News
Photo Above: This is one of the 5 ft. x 5 ft. pieces that will be adhered to the Riverside wall. There are 40 panels that are this same size. We are thrilled with this sneak peak and can't wait to see more!
The set-back:
- As with our earlier than typical need for winter jackets, weather was also a factor and has impacted our installation timeline, pushing it to spring. We learned that once the weather drops below 40 degrees the gel effectiveness is compromised and can crack, impacting the longevity of the mural. Obviously we were not willing to take that chance. As such, our mural unveiling will happen this spring. Can't wait!
The good news:
- The final mural design is a success because we can unequivocally say that it represents Riverside. We solicited feedback from hundreds of people, including students, staff, families and community members.
- We estimate that roughly 600 community members painted Riverside's Mural at the Farmers Market. We thank the Children's Museum of Rochester, The Rochester Farmers Market and of course, Goodspace Murals for collaborating with us that day.
- The talented, Marie Ferguson, of DM Create made a stunning video capturing the Farmer's Market Paint Party (see above). The painting residency led by Goodspace Mural staff was also very successful. All Riverside students and many families were involved in the critical underpainting of the mural. We love that!
- Several of our grants included staff and community capacity building. As part of that requirement, three Riverside staff and Marisol a local artist and friend to Riverside traveled to the Goodspace Mural Studio in Minneapolis to get more hands-on specifics on the unique Parachute Cloth process. Goodspace Murals is the only company in the state of Minnesota to work with this community-centered Parachute Canvas Process. Our goal is that we have the capacity to recreate this process on a smaller scale ourselves.
- Over the course of this two-year endeavor, roughly 800 children (from Riverside and our community) have touched this student and community centered project. It is our hope that this representation connects generations to our school, our community and our district.
Food Drive at People's Food Co-Op w/ Friedell
In October me and two other Riverside students went to do a food drive at The People's Food Co-Op. We worked with Friedell students and we split up people. Some went up to the front doors, and some went to the side-door. We give customers lists of things that families might need. A lot of people donated food and money because they wanted help.
It was a fun learning experience because we talked to lots of people and passed around lists of things we needed and people donated food and money so we could buy more of the things that we needed.
We hope to see you there on Tuesday, November 20th from 11:30 - 2 p.m. and on the third Tuesday of each month until May.
Art4Trails, Wilderness Inquiry, Hoover and Riverside Explore Art and Nature
- Introduce students public art and sculpture in a nearby park.
- Empower students to think, look, talk about and appreciate the natural and human-made world around us while making connections to our own lives.
- Riverside students will be partnering with local artist Sebastien Richer, to create a sculpture on the trail. We saw this opportunity as an natural entry into talking about public art and particularly sculpture.
To discuss the sculptures, we used a strategy our staff has been trained in though TurnAround Arts called Visual Thinking Strategies. This strategy is similar to Number Talks for math. Visual Thinking Strategies is a research-based education nonprofit that provides a teaching methodology, a developmentally appropriate image curriculum, and a learner-centered professional development program. VTS cultivates an evolving, global community of practitioners in schools, museums, and beyond.
Students made incredible observations and connections to the world. One reoccurring theme was noted was the 'S shape' of the sculpture, "Perfect Canoe." Many students asked if the artist, Sebastien Richer intentionally made it in the shape of an S, like his first name. While Sebastien denies that connection, we still wonder if it was perhaps done unconsciously. Either way, student questions and connection to the world were incredible. We are so lucky!
We owe tremendous gratitude to our artist Amarama and Art4Trails folks Barbara Beck, Allie Good, Helen Roland, and Barb Depman. We thank you for the dozens of hours you contributed to improving access and opportunity for ALL students.
Sculptures Students Visited
Fantastical Fruit, by Amarama
Perfect Canoe, by Sebastien Richer
Sunrise, Sunset, by Richard Brubaker
“Arts education in Minnesota is a basic educational right for all Minnesota children—not just the gifted, or the talented or the economically advantaged. It has a very strong grounding in state statutes and rules. ”
-Perpich Center for the Arts
Thanks for the Winterwear Old Abe Coffee!
Huge thanks to Old Abe Coffee Co. for trading coffee for coats! Thanks to our Public Health Nurse, Brianna Dibble for connecting us to Old Abe! When I called to thank Abe, he was reluctant to accept it. He reiterated that the gratitude should really go to the people who donated the coats. But alas, we would be remiss if we didn't give credit where credit is due. Thanks to Abe and all those who brought coats to coffee! It takes a village. We thank you!
OLD ABE SHOP ON COOKE PARK
Wed - Sat 9am-7pm
Sun 11am - 6pm
832 7th St NW, Rochester, Minn
Cuentos y Canciones at Riverside, Tuesday, November 13th, 5:30 - 6 p.m.
Riverside Central Elementary, A Community School
Email: licasper@rochester.k12.mn.us
Location: 506 5th Street Southwest, Rochester, MN, USA
Phone: 507-328-3690
Twitter: @riversideotters