The rain barrel protects the streams by reducing the runoff that occurs during heavy rains. Our responsibility to protect the environment is vital to the complex ecosystems that exist on our planet. As an elementary art teacher, I look for opportunities to connect the art program with science, math, social studies and language arts. Teaching art at Terraset Elementary School has been exciting and inspiring. During the eight years I have been working with Terraset students, I have been impressed by the PTA funded programs that directly benefit the children. The Eco-club is one of the after school activities that adopted the Trout in the Classroom project. The club members work together to create an aquarium habitat for the trout eggs which later develop into fry. The students are devoted to the care of these fish. Through careful observations, they document the growth and development. They release the brook trout into a stream in Southwestern Virginia. Brook trout are considered an indicator species because their survival depends on pollution free streams. The brook trout is the Virginia State Fish.

 

 

If you are interested in rain barrels and having your own barrel in your backyard, there are "Build Your Own Rain Barrel" workshops!  How cool is that?  Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (ACE) has more information including costs and dates for workshops on their website.

Grace Art Corner- Andrew Wyeth 

 

Andrew Wyeth grew up in an artistic family. His father was a very famous artist who illustrated books such as "Kidnapped " and "Treasure Island." Andrew grew up being encouraged to draw whatever he saw around him. His older brothers and sisters (he was the youngest of five) were good at school and became very successful professionals e.g. one sister became a composer and one of his brothers designed the plastic drinks bottle.

 

Andrew did not attend school, due to illness, but instead was educated by his father. He loved being in his father's art studio and learnt much from his father talking about the paintings he had completed. He later said he felt very lucky to have had his father as his only teacher. However, his father was a demanding teacher and required that Andrew develop his observational skills. His father sometimes told his son to observe an object and then took that object away so that Andrew would draw the object from memory.

 

Andrew grew up in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania where he spent a lot of time outside exploring the countryside around his home.  Wyeth only painted what he knew (he never left the USA) and his paintings show that he saw not only beauty but danger and loneliness in the landscapes with which he was familiar. He also felt that one view/place could evoke so many different worlds to him.

 

Wyeth preferred to work in Tempura - a mixture of egg yolk, water and pigment - painted onto a plaster covered canvas. He liked to use this artistic media because it allowed him to work slowly and precisely and build up the painting by adding layers of paint onto other layers.

 

Wyeth painted both still life paintings and portraits. He had a very special way of painting not just a representation of a scene or an object but also capturing the mood of a scene. Each work, reaches beyond the surface into the "inner self" of the picture. "Art to me is seeing. I think you have got to use your eyes as well as your emotion, and one without the other just doesn't work. That's my art."

 

Andrew Wyeth died in January, 2009 at the age of 91.

 

Dates to Remember Mar 29: 6:30pm SLHS, Race to Nowhere Apr 4: Teacher Workday (no school) Apr 5: 6:30pm PTA Meeting Apr 10: 12-3pm Carnival Apr 13: 5th Grade Walker Nature Center Field Trip Apr 18-22: Spring Break Apr 25: 4-9pm Tigers on the Town, Chick-Fil-A Apr 26: 4th Grade Jamestown Field Trip Apr 27: Hugs and Kisses, Theatre IV

Terraset ES Hours   Bell Schedule Mon: 9:15AM-1:25PM Tue-Fri: 9:15AM-3:55PM School Office Hours 8:00AM-4:30PM