Art students at Anona Elementary School learn how to create, and thanks to their teacher, also learn how they learn.
By PETER SCHWEITZER
Published December 9, 2003
LARGO - At Anona Elementary School, art is not only a required part of the curriculum, but also an integral part of the learning process.
"Art is a skill that shows our students how to see," said art teacher Jacquie Hoblit, who holds a master's degree in art education and has been at Anona Elementary six years. "When the students learn to draw, they learn to act; they learn how to analyze, discover, respond and act. It covers the higher forms of knowledge. Art is about problem solving."
Hoblit is a proponent of the multiple intelligences theory of education and has taken courses in the discipline.
"I've seen students who've exhibited risky behavior succeed in art," she said. "They are able to learn concepts about the other areas, such as math and science, by applying art to those problems."
And the art program at Anona has enabled some of the children to feature their work at exhibits alongside work of students from other schools.
"We compete with all the county and private schools in order to be selected for an exhibit," Hoblit said. "As the teacher, I choose works and then submit them to the exhibit judges. We have works exhibited at the Arts Center in St. Petersburg as well as the Mahaffey Theater."
Michael Patrick Wlodarczyk, an 11-year-old fifth-grader from Largo, has his work, titled Harmony Dragon Over New York City, exhibited at the Arts Center in St. Petersburg.
"I wanted to use a dragon because it's unusual to see a dragon as a good thing," he said. "I wanted to put in the Twin Towers as a memory."
Michael had to describe the meaning of the work in writing in order to be selected for the exhibit. He wrote: "Harmony Dragon is kind and has a rainbow to show all the colors of harmony. He protects everybody and everything wherever he goes. Where Harmony Dragon is there is peace, love, happiness, and harmony. Harmony Dragon uses his powers and flames to fight bad souls."
Amanda Cooper, curator of exhibition and education for the Arts Center, was one of those who selected Michael's piece for the word and image exhibit at the center.
"We had 300 entries from the elementary schools in the county," she said. "We had to narrow that number down to 75. It was very difficult. We were looking for works that combined a good work of art with good writing."
This exhibit required that the participants write a description of their work. In addition, students were judged by their adherence to the theme "Celebrating Harmony" as well as their use of color. The exhibit opened on Nov. 7 and will close Dec. 31.
Cooper remembers Michael's work clearly.
"It just killed me, his work was so creative," she said. "He really made up something. It was very well done. His writing was excellent and his use of colors was wonderful. It really struck me. It was very different from the others."
The connection between the Celebrating Harmony theme and New York City was not lost on Hoblit.
"These kids were really impacted by the 9/11 tragedy," she said. "It's part of synthesizing events, this is their world in which they live, these are things happening to them right now."
For students, the recognition of having their art exhibited publicly adds to the fun.
Second-grader Katie Lewis' Tiger Fish won second place at the Mahaffey Theater exhibit.
"I'm excited about it and proud," said Katie, 7, of Largo. She took the Tiger Fish idea from the Dr. Seuss books. "I really like Dr. Seuss and wanted to do something using those books. The art really looked good. My parents haven't seen it yet but we will soon."
Fourth-grader Shannon Cramblett, 9, recently drew a chameleon that will be entered into an exhibit soon.
"I tried to blend the colors to make it look nice," Shannon said. "I love art because I get to express myself as well as learn other subjects like geometry or science. In art class, we have to learn geometry in order to do the art. That's how I learn."
Shannon's chameleon project actually began as a way to solve a math problem by using different types of geometric shapes.
Fifth-grader Galit Weinfeld drew a tessellation, a type of shape reversal that changes quickly and fits together like a puzzle or mosaic pattern.
"It's kind of like geometry," said Galit, who started her project with a square. "It was confusing at first, but when I looked at it I saw a bird so I kept choosing different shapes and came up with a hummingbird. I had a lot of fun. Art fits together like a puzzle and that's like life."
