January 12, 2009

Ms. Sapelly met with Ms. Lobo before class, and went to Emmanuel House to work out the logistics of the art elective visiting and working with the seniors. It became apparent that this was going to be impossible due to scheduling, so Ms. Lobo and her Community Service Learning class will do the Hands Project with the Seniors, while Ms. Sapelly's Room/Stories elective will interview role models, and work with their 'hands' instead.

Ms. Sapelly had the pleasure of meeting Professor Burns, a resident at Emmanuel and mentor to Ms. Lobo while she attended Bridgewater State College. What an inspiration!

Ms. Sapelly re-introduced the Admiring Hands Project, and all seemed fine with the change. She passed out the 'information gathering' questionnaire that both the student and the 'role model' will answer. This personal information can be included in their compositions.

Questions include: What is your favorite childhood memory?; What is your favorite food?; What are some phrases your parents used to say to you?. Ms. Sapelly suggested using words, derived from each other's answers, to fill in the hands or the 'negative' space around the hands. She showed several 'sample' hands she worked on using words, and images from magazines and newspapers. Students responded most to her own drawings that included her tiny, repeated signature covering the outside of the paper.

Students filled out their questionnaires during class. Already, one student has begun his drawing, a curve ball hand gesture throwing a baseball, including the words 'curve' and 'baseball.'