Being An Original, Being Yourself
by Linda

It's Creative Expression Teacher Linda signing in to let you know where we are in Art-x-press camp on Tuesday morning at about 11 a.m.  First off, to all of you parents who may be reading this, rest assured, your children have been in great hands this week.  The amount of detail and coordination that goes in to the planning of all of the activities in order to make things run so smoothly is unbelievable!!  Hats off to everyone associated with Pacific Symphony for offering such a great opportunity for young people to experience the arts in such a professional and yet fun and entertaining way (after all, we are still dealing with kids and all of the energy and emotion that comes with them!).

I have had the pleasure of working with Travis, Itzel, Ivana, Anna, Christina, Joey, Isaac, Francisco, Ari, Patty, and Dmitri in my Creative Expressions class this week.  We have explored the beauty and uniqueness of a rose and how it was used as such a powerful symbol of love and transformation in the musical "Beauty and the Beast" that we attended on Saturday night.  We discussed the new style of music that was created by George Gershwin as he combined the elements of classical and jazz music to create a sound that came to be thought of as uniquely American.  Finally, we attended the Festival of the Arts and the Pageant of the Masters in 
Laguna Beach and got to experience the originality of the artwork and even make some of our own.  As we finished up our time together as a Creative Expressions class, we were given the opportunity to write a special "I Am" poem and write and sketch about our past, present, and future.

It's been a memorable week and we can't wait to share what makes these kids special and original with you tonight at our Parent Presentation.  Looking forward to a full house!!