The SASHS chapter of the National Art Honor Society sold handmade crafts, cards, and art objects in the high school lobby during lunches on December 11, 12, and 13. Gifts started at 50 cents and ranged to $15.

When you stumble into opportunity, you had better take advantage of it. Last year, SASHS art teacher Chris Martin did just that. Martin met illustrator Amy June Bates through a mutual acquaintance and asked if she might share some of her knowledge with his Digital Graphic Design class. The class was working on the Greyhound Children’s Book Project, a collaborative project in which students in the English department’s Children’s Literature classes write books which are then illustrated and published by the Digital Graphic Design class. Martin was truly surprised when Ms. Bates agreed to the visit. The busy illustrator has more than 50 books to her credit, including a set of best-selling children’s books written by well-known singer-songwriter Jewel. The popular illustrator doesn’t have much down time.

Ms. Bates visited the class and was impressed with the SASHS student designers and the format of the class. In their hour with the illustrator, the students were treated to samples of her work and her thoughts on the illustration process. At the end of the visit, Martin asked Bates if she would be interested in working with the students as an artist-in-residence sometime in the near future. Bates agreed, but there was just one hitch: paying for the program.

Enter the Shippensburg Area School District Foundation’s Mini-Grant. Through the community-funded Foundation, grants of up to $1,000 are awarded to fund innovative learning experiences in the SASD. Martin applied for the grant this past September and was fortunate to have his proposal selected for funding. The funds will be used to compensate Bates, who will spend a school week working on illustration projects, and interacting with students across all classes in the art department, dispensing technical advice and insight into her field, as well as participating in related discussions and critiques.

The Greyhound Children’s Book Project Artist-In-Residence program will begin in early March 2014 and will run for one week.

See Amy June Bates’ work at www.amybates.com

Illustration ©Amy June Bates, courtesy of www.amyjunebates.blogspot.com

Fourth and fifth grade students at SAIS created art that was used to decorate the stage for the holdiday chorus concerts.  Fourth grade students created whimsical music notes using watercolor and oil pastel.  Fifth grade students used construction paper to make colorful 3D tessellations.

Students at SAIS worked on winter artworks.  Fifth grade chorus students distributed the artworks to residents of the Shippensburg Health Center in December when they visited for a special holiday performance.