Winning the Homework War

Winning the Homework War

Check out this article for tips on getting this war won for good!

Wow ... The Wall is Wonderful!

It was a perfect weather weekend. Wesley and Meatball, in the company of over 60 children over 3 days created a joyful masterpiece.

You can view a photo gallery of the weekend's pictures at www.east.scs.k12.nc.us - and if you have some pictures to add, let me know!

We are so grateful to everyone, East teachers, kids from all over the county who were "drawn" to the wall! The energy was terrific.

Here are some of the things that kids said about their experience:

Antwan Bennett: "It changed my heart"
DaShada Wall: "After I painted, I wanted to change the world. I went home and cleaned up the area around my house."
Niya Jackson: "It made me happy inside".

Mural Weekend is Here

Wesley is off work today, and will be spray painting the school bus on the wall! Color swatching will also happen today.

Tomorrow morning the street will be barricaded. Volunteer painters should park in bowling alley parking lot and walk to the barricaded area of the street. Check in at the "paint table" - sign in, and get a brush and a container of paint. Save the lower areas of the mural for the littler ones - try to work just at your height - let the high schoolers and adults work the ladders. Remember to watch where youre going because Saturday morning will be Very Busy with many painters!

Work slowly and carefully. Remember that you are painting something that will be there for years to come!

Mural Outlining Has Begun!

Wesley found a slender window of time this past weekend when the winds were calm enough to work with spray paint to begin the outlining of the mural. As weather permits, he'll continue on this work through the week.

Color swatching is planned for Friday afternoon, and the color painting by volunteers will begin and go through the weekend. What Fun! A flyer of information and how to sign up for painting times is being distributed to students who may want to help paint this weekend.

Great Meeting at AHS with Wesley Harris

Tuesday Wesley Harris, the lead artist for the Mural Project, met with students at Albemarle High School.

The students and their art teacher, Mrs. Fike, arranged multiple sketches drawn by the students at East Albemarle and brainstormed ideas to collage the submissions.

Ling Guo had an excellent idea for a student with an unzipped backpack at the far end of the wall, with papers fluttering out behind. On those papers would be the actual sketches, messages, ideas, and concepts that have been talked about by the students and the parents.

Tentatively, the sketch may be finished Friday, and can be shown to those who need to approve. Once that is done, Wesley can outline the sketch on the wall - hopefully this weekend!

Stay tuned for sketch and schedule information - as soon as approval is secured things will really start happening.

The Honors Art Club at AHS will also prepare the areas around the wall on Friday by mowing, cleaning, and getting it safe for people to work!

Thanks again to SNAP for sending Marina Richardson to cover our meeting.

In High Gear Now!

Thanks Marina Richardson, for a wonderful writeup on this project in SNAP on 9/22!

To see the article online, click here :http://thesnaponline.com/local/x180463227/Eyes-voices-of-first-graders-lead-to-East-art-project

Last evening, Brent King (King's Mobile Wash) of Troy came out and pressure washed the wall... now the graffiti is virtually gone!

And tomorrow morning, Sherrill Smith, owner of S&D Painting, and his crew will be out bright and early to prime the mural space. Thank you Jason of Sherwin Williams for the primer supply!

Kids at East are busy committing their ideas to pictures and words for the lead artists to turn into life-size images in the new few weeks.

Thanks to everyone for making this tiny thought in the mind of a child become something truly exciting.

In High Gear Now!