Educators TOOLBOX
Art & Ecology


Art & Ecology:

Curriculum Integration



Pickerington Elementary School

Michael's Story

 Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle
fly, fly, fly high
Bald Eagle Bald Eagle
you are a floating
leaf in the sky.
He makes me feel
like a feather
Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle
touch me, touch me
with your wing
Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle
build a nest
Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle
dive, dive, dive
dive low, dive high
when I see you
I am surprised.

Michael, Age 8

Michael chose to paint a Bald Eagle on his tile. Michael's eagle issurroundedby text that includes scientific data about the Bald Eagle's ecosystem,discovered through scientific research about the valuable resources thatwetland habitats provide to inhabitants. He decorated the container thatwould carry his tile to his adult partner with a soaring eagle. The wordHARMONY appears several times on the box, referring to our 1993-1994 schooltheme. It was our collective hope to create ideas that would contributeto a harmonious existence for all life species.

Michael was partnered with Deborah Griffing. Deborah was the artist whocame to work with all of the third grade students to make their environmentalissue package tiles. She came to Pickerington Elementary through a residencyexperience funded by the Ohio Arts Council and the Pickerington ElementaryPTO. Deborah spends time in recreation centers in Columbus making art withchildren and exhibits her own work in Columbus galleries. Deborah's choiceof medium is painting, and she also makes decorative ceramic tile.


Deborah's return postcard, indicating her interest in exchanging a package.

Deborah's Response to Michael's Gift

Dear Michael,

Thank you for the tile. It is quite beautiful. I hope you continueto make art throughout your life. The following is a poem by one of my favoritepoets, Mary Oliver. It makes me think about my relationship to the restof the living world. It is a poem that gives me hope.

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will
tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter, how lonely,
the world offers itself to your
imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh
and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Have a good life and enjoy yourself-

Debbie

Deborah's tile, Dreaming of the Bird, was packaged inside a Colemanthermal lunch box. Gifts for Michael were also contained within, includingmodelling clay and markers.





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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