Barnard Mandarin Magnet Elementary School held its fourth annual Art Night on January 19th. Students, parents, teachers, and staff arrived at the school’s auditorium in their best “dressed to get messy” ensembles to participate in nature-inspired art activities with family and friends.
Although the school teaches 50-80% of the day in a Mandarin immersion environment, nights like this showcase the intrinsic artistry found within all students regardless of language and background. Throughout the event, participants bounced from station to station (more than 20 in all), getting their hands dirty in variety of artistic ways. The most popular stations of the night involved fruit- and vegetable-stamped artwork.
Second grade student Reid M. looks forward to the event every year.
“My favorite project was the hidden messages art station where I got to write on white paper with a white crayon and then watercolor over it to reveal the message,” said Reid. “It was like art and science and magic all at once.”
Students trickled out of the auditorium late that night holding bags full of their own masterpieces. The quality and creativity of decorated rocks, apple-stamped greeting cards, yarn stick wall décor, and hidden message paintings were enough to give Picasso and Monet a run for their money.
For more information on Barnard Elementary School or to find out about the District’s School Choice program, visit http://sandiegounified.org/barnard.
