Educators TOOLBOX
Art & Ecology


Art & Ecology:

Curriculum Integration



Pickerington Elementary School

by Mary Sheridan

Come Explore With Us. . .

Pickerington students have a lot to say about the land upon which theylive. For they have experienced the gush of mud between their toes, theelegance of the flight of the Great Blue Heron, and the explosion of Jewelweedseeds at the water's edge.

Beginning in 1992, the staff at Pickerington Elementary created a curriculumrelated to environmental issues that were directly affecting the Pickeringtoncommunity. We were concerned that our students were too often introducedto the issues and wonders of obscure lands like rainforests, presented throughbooks and television, and had come to take that which surrounded them forgranted. The goal of our study was to discover the unique, natural beautywithin our own community.

In a collaborative effort to lure the children outside, coordinated byart teacher Mary Sheridan, teachers and friends of Pickerington Elementaryhave created learning experiences disguised as fun adventures, providingopportunities for students to feel the warmth of the sun, the brush of tallgrass, and the splash of cool water. These backyard excursions seemed toinspire a desire in all who experienced them to find a way to respond,document,and share their vision, to spread news about the wonders that were discoveredjust beyond their own back door.

Come play with us as we extend the boundaries of our backyard throughan Environmental Issue Package Project partnering Pickerington studentswith adult artists from across the United States and the world. Begun in1994 as one project of our evolving unit on saving wetlands, we attemptto extend the boundaries of our backyard to discover what ecological issuesare having an effect on the world community.

 Deborah Griffing

 Jim Villani

Groundwork for the Environmental Issue Package Project was begun duringthe 1993-1994 school year by 150 third grade students who worked with JimVillani, poet, and Deborah Griffing, painter, to develop "issuepackages"that included three components: a ceramic tile, written poetry or prose,and a distinctively decorated container that represented the student's concernfor saving wetlands. Students understood that these packages would be givenaway as gifts to adult artists in the world who would agree to create andassemble a similar package that represented other personal concerns forour fragile world. Throughout the past three years, students were partnered,individually, with an adult artist who agreed to prepare an issue packagebased on issues affecting the community in which they lived. Adult artistswere contacted through arts organizations, art festivals, word-of-mouth,the Art & Ecology Colloquium, in what ultimately became a network ofcommunication that took on a life of its own.

Over 120 successful matches have been made between student artists andadult artists. The adult participants represent 45 cities in the UnitedStates, with one tile from France. Their responses reflect a dialogue ofshared concerns and hope for a healthy future for our earth. They have notonly shared hope, but also a variety of working styles, biographicalinformation,and a personal commitment of time in their desire to collaborate with theirown future, a new generation.

The value of this project lies within the collaborative communicationof children and adults through words and images. The connections made resultedin teaching our students the process of cooperative communication and thevalue of diversity, enabling uniquely different approaches to a common theme.The involvement of adult artists showed students that their concerns aboutthe future of our global environment are valid and are shared acrossgenerations.





More About the Pickerington Project

 Student Stories

 How To Hear the Grass Sing

 Michael

Wandering ThroughWetlands

Marc

Inspired Reflection

Danielle

Issues:Community andGlobal

Danny

Partnerships







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