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Inspired  by  Marie  Eichmann’s  second  grade  class  at  Perkins  School  and  their  Monster  Match  distance  videoconferencing  project  last  fall,  Newark  High  School  art  teacher  and  Pre-­‐K-­‐12  art  supervisor  Courtney  Dentel  decided  to  take  the  project  a  step  further  and  develop  a  collaborative  art-­‐making  activity  between  her  two  Pottery  classes  and  the  second  graders.          Each  of  Eichmann’s  students  drew  

a  monster  and  wrote  very  detailed  descriptions  of  what  they  looked  like.  The  drawings  and  descriptions  were  sent  to  Dentel’s  pottery  students,  who  would  each  “adopt”  and  make  their  monster.     Working  only  with  the  descriptions,  each  NHS  pottery  student  sketched  out,  in  color,  what  they  thought  each  monster  would    look  like.     After  the  sketches  were  completed  and  approved  by  Dentel,  the  Pottery  students  sculpted  the  monsters  out  of  clay,  Mired  them  once  in  the  kiln  and  then  painted  each  with  bright  acrylic  paints.   When  the  monsters  were  completed,  Dentel  then  showed  the  second  graders’  drawings  to  the  Pottery  students  to  see  how  closely  their  clay  sculptures  matched  them.  The  results  were  quite  amazing!   “Depending  on  the  amount  of  detail  provided,  my  students  matched  the  descriptions  almost  to  the  letter,’’  Dentel  said.    

moremonster

Matchmaking

Description,  upper  left,  and  drawing,  below,  by  second  grader  Michael    Potanovich  and  sculpture,  above,  right,    made  by  NHS  sophomore  Jamie  Cosby.

     

   From  the  get-­‐go  of  the  project  in  January,  Dentel’s  students  knew  they  were  creating  a  monster  to  give  to  Eichmann’s  students.        “That  inspired  them  to  take  great  pride  in  their  work,  knowing  it  was  for  someone  else,’’  she  said.    

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Description,  above  left,  and  drawing,  above  right,  by  second  grader  Alaina  Wolanyk  and  monster,  below,  by  NHS  senior  Autumn  Hackert.

       

         On  April  18,  the  NHS  Pottery  students  met  Eichmann’s  students  at  a  pizza  lunch  at  Perkins  School.          There,  each  NHS  Pottery  student  and  second  grader  pair  got  to  know  one  another  a  little  bit  before  going  to  the  Wayne  County  Council  for  the  Arts,  where  the  children  were  able  to  see  their  monster  sculptures  on  display  and  compare  their  drawings  to  the  Minished  sculpture.

 

         “This  project  was  a  great  way  for  the  second  graders  to  continue  working  on  using  very  speciMic  details  in  their  writing,  while  the  Pottery  students  were  able  to  use  their  imaginations  and  Mine  tune  their  clay  sculpture  skills  and  techniques,”  Dentel  said.

             “  What  was  most  rewarding  was  seeing  the  high  school  students  take  such  pride  in  their  work  and  seeing  the  excitement  in  the  second  graders  when  we  all  met,  “  Dentel  said.              “My  second  graders  had  a  blast  being  paired  with  the  high  school  students  and  collaborating  on  this  project,’’  Eichmann  said.  “Meeting  their  high  school  buddies  and  seeing  their  monster  sculptures  was  very  exciting.  My  second  graders  are  already  looking  forward  to  taking  a  pottery  class  in  high  school  with  Mrs.  Dentel!“

   Thanks  to  Courtney  Dentel  ,  NHS  Principal  Tom  Roote  and  John  Domm  from  the  Wayne  County  Council  of  the  

Arts  for  providing  photos!