Educators TOOLBOX
Art & Ecology


Art & Ecology:

Curriculum Integration



Pickerington Elementary School

Marc's Story

Spider

It is small and skinny
and it likes to hide.
It eats bugs and is black
Some have footprints on them,
and they are 1/2 to 1 inch tall.
At least 350 die every day.
The wetlands make me feel happy.
It is harmony, it is peace



Marc had been impressed by the Orb-Weaver Spider he had seen atPickerington Pond and was thoroughly engrossed in painting his own spottedspider when his anquished cry brought both artist (Deborah Griffing) andteacher (Mary Sheridan) running to his aid. Both adults thought that therehad been a studio mishap, but it was just Marc's realization that he had"painted too many legs on my spider!"

This exuberance for the task of responding to what had been experiencedis central to the work that is done by Ron Hirschi, author and environmentalist, who accompanied us on our initial walk through the wetlands in 1992. Ron was interested in participating in our issue package exchange, and Marcappeared to be a good match. The two shared a passion for fishing and haddiscussed their experiences.

Ron Hirschi celebrated our decision to wander in our backyard by stayingin contact with our staff and students. He was repeatedly invited back toPickerington to work on various aspects of environmental action includingwriting books, restoration of a wetland on the school site, and promotinginquiry about issues within the community and beyond and advocating activitiesfor action to aid in environmental healing. He believes that we have becomea nation of people isolated from nature. "Our destruction of theenvironment reflects our misunderstanding of the world around us. It's not that we don'tcare; it's that we don't understand." (Wilson, 1995.)

Ron's response to Marc's gift

Ron chose to package his tile in a tackle box for fishing and included some items of fishing tackle for Marc to use.

Ron's tile, A Less Than Perfect Star, was carved from talc foundaround his home in Montana. Also included was another carved fish (madefrom talc), in the style of the Pacific Northwest Coast Indians.

Ron Hirschi had become well known as an adult who valued the ideas of children, who led but also listened. Ron introduced the students to the wonders of the wetland, encouraging them to touch, see, feel, and hear the existing life. He taught them to blow on wide blades of grass, to make the grass sing. The "singing grass" became the poetic metaphor for our staff to describe the total immersion into an experience through theuse of all of the senses. What a wonderful symphony was created by the studentsat the edge of the pond!





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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