Friday, November 9, 2012

Going Back to the Basics in Education – Pt. 2 Discovering and highlighting Beauty within your Schools by Mrs. Dorothy Barron


Going Back to the Basics in Education – Pt. 2 Discovering and highlighting Beauty within your Schools by Mrs. Dorothy Barron
In Parents Taking Charge in Education Going Back to the Basics in Education Series Pt. 1 - An Environment conducive to Learning - Beauty makes a difference, we raised some questions hopefully to get you thinking about a school environment conducive to learning in relation to the look of your child school’s exterior school building and offered a suggestion for the creation of such an environment through a beautification initiative.
We want to now focus on the interior of school buildings as we continue to look at creating an environment conducive to learning. The inside structure and operational components should be operational and fully-functioning. Today in PT. 2 of our Series, Discovering and Highlighting Beauty within your Schools, we share small acts and actions utilized which created beauty inside some school buildings and made positive differences and an impact on students, school staff and others. What such acts and actions may have students saying can be found in today’s Parents Taking Charge in Education YouTube Channel Video at the link listed below.
  Decorative School Bulletin Boards:
During my formative years in elementary school one of the greatest highlights were bulletin boards; yes, bulletin boards from the perspective of the teacher having turned those boards into educational “work of arts,” beauty and learning tools. Older children were asked to assist and boy, oh boy, one could not wait until he/she was selected by the teacher to assist with cutting, pasting and stapling pre-cut letters, borders and art onto those bulletin boards.
        The Beauty of Students’ work and Achievements:
As an adult - at one school, which I had the privilege to volunteer and serve as PTA President, the PTA sponsored a contest of written essays on Fire Safety. The students’ essay papers were publicly displayed on hall walls and sticks of peppermint were attached to each essay. I was informed more than once that the candy would not remain; some sticky fingers would take the candy down. Such was not the case; not a single stick of candy was taken during the entire number of days the papers remained attached to the wall. The students took pride that their essays were highlighted publicly. The hall wall display of publicized essays and peppermint sticks were the adults’ way of having said, “job well done and we are proud of you.”
Beauty during the Holidays: What is more beautiful and exciting to most children during the Christmas Holidays?
The answer: A beautifully decorated Christmas tree and gifts! A beautifully decorated Christmas tree was placed in the lobby of the school and hung with peppermint sticks. The staff was uplifted and students were joyous and excited. Once again, some pessimists made the same claim; the candy would not remain on the tree. In this instance, one child did remove a hanging peppermint stick, but suddenly replaced the candy and walked rapidly away. The decorated Christmas Tree - a small endeavor which created an act of beauty seemed to have motivated everyone to work a little harder academically and served as a morale booster for all. The school janitor as usual kept the building exceptionally clean and the hall floors waxed.
The above were basic and small acts which portrayed beauty and each made a difference and positive impact in Education!
Parents Taking Charge in Education YouTube Channel Video Link ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5k4NCHxaSU&feature=plcp Parents Taking Charge in Education Back to the Basics in Education Series: Pt. 2 Discovering and highlighting Beauty within your Schools: The Impact of Beauty when utilized within a School’s Environment – What students may say?
Bulletin Board - Images Credit:
Photo of leaves above and at the end of blog post: P. Jarrod Barron (Mrs. Dorothy Barron. All Rights Reserved. 2012)
Cornucopia Illustration: Peipei (Mrs. Dorothy Barron. All Rights Reserved. 2012)
United States History Images above: Hatzigeorgiou, Karen J. U.S. History Images. 2011. Online. Internet. <http://ushistoryimages.com>.
 Mrs. Dorothy Barron, Founder
Parents Taking Charge in Education   http://mrsdbarron.blogspot.com
E-mail: barron.dorothy@yahoo.com
 

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