Apple Fest Makery

Thank you to all the volunteers and participants who made Apple Fest a huge success.  It was, yet again, a wonderful celebration of our collective creativity with a vertiginous array of opportunities to explore fall themed materials, get adorned and get messy BNS artsy-style.

Hairweaving

Whoa. Bill fell under the spell of children with paintbrushes!

This looks like Makey Makey to me. I'll bet those bananas sang songs! 

So, we were encouraged to pull (I mean really pull, cuz its not easy) the sheep's wool out! Then we had a mini yarn rolling contest. Wool is AMAZING! And so cozy. Thank you, sheep!

The mandala. And some dance steps.

Speaking of dancing. The zombies had a blast.

Bubbles and face paint!

Thanks for painting faces MaryAnn! You're the best.

Thanks everyone.  

Photos courtesy of Justin Weiner and Mollie McQuarrie

   

Great Small Works at Ecorama: "Sandy, Sandy, Sandy"

Great Small Works is a local theater troupe that works in equal parts to delight audiences with drama and puppetry and to provoke them with thoughtful, edgy commentary about current events. At Ecorama, for the 4th and 5th grade, GSW transformed room 323 into a spooky underwater enclave complete with mini enclaves (fishtanks) used for the puppet play. Therein was told the tale of Coral (sea coral), Salty (a 400 year old pirate) and Lucia (a blue heron) struggling to manage life's challenges post hurricane Sandy.

The "rich people" puppets who employed private fire fighters. The one on the left is about to lose his head!

For every class, the fact that one of the puppet's heads came off fascinated the children. Roberto Rossi aka "Coral" explained that a few days before the show, the puppet broke! Ack, what to do?? He decided to work with this new, two part iteration of the puppet and weave a decapitation into the play. So resourceful!

Following the performance, students asked the troupe many excellent questions: How old is Salty? And why is "Salty" his name? How did you create your costumes? How did you create the characters? Is that your real hair? Where were you during the hurricane? What are you doing about climate change? (Wise kids we have). When and where can we see more GSW puppet plays? (Click here to find out more about GSW's where and when-abouts). As much as GSW put out for our kids, our kids in turn put out for them with their knowledge and bold curiosity. 


Thank you, GSW, for your wisdom, ingenuity, humor and hard work!

Meredith Holch as Blue Heron

Roberto Rossi as Coral

And, thank you, Barbara and Johanna for facilitating the event's production in conjunction with Ecorama, Mia for videotaping the whole thing from every angle possible, Justin Weiner for his awesome photography, and all the volunteers and teachers who participated.

The final words of show and overall gist of the event in its entirety? Whether you are dealing with environmental destruction, political action, or making and producing puppet plays, success depends on working together. Viva!

Jenny Romaine and Salty

Beauty In The House

Ker-pow! What a gorgeous season of creative and performing arts at BNS!

Even weeks later, just cannot shake the splendor & pride of that Fourth Grade Musical. 

The BNS Arts Committee shouts out KUDOS AND THANKS TO THE TEAM THAT MADE IT HAPPEN, particularly to fearless leaders JONATHAN and JOSE and DONNA, and MELISSA heading up scenic design.

Beauty in the HOUSE!!

-Mike Shapiro (text) & Justin Weiner (photos)

To view Justin's full slideshow go here: http://tinyurl.com/bns-2013-ic
Feel free to download from gallery, share and/or re-host the images.  A simple photo credit is appreciated, where applicable (on blogs, in print, etc.)

Maker Fest Magic

Congratulations to all those who made the first ever Makerfest such a fantastic event.  From knitting to weaving to cooking to toy making to worry doll creation to LEGO robotics and 3D printing.  It was totally cool!

-Anna Allanbrook, Principal

Photo courtesy Sam Erickson

Photo courtesy Sam Erickson

Photo courtesy Sam Erickson

Photo courtesy Sam Erickson

Photo courtesy Sam Erickson

A true example of everything that is right about our school. It was so awesome to see all of the parents working so hard. All of the kids and parents had so much fun. And did you hear? I won one of the raffles! I screamed and Briam and I danced. The true highlight of the evening. ;-)

-Jennifer Fleming, Teacher

I thought it was wonderful and inspiring to see so many families truly engaged in "making stuff" together. The combination of our dedicated volunteers with the families who were excited to come and experience Maker Fest was magical!
-Annmarie Matava, Parent

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

I saw a 7 year-old BNS 2nd grader discover knitting! She struggled with needles and stitches, but kept at it so so long. I wonder if she even knew that the sweaters and scarves she wears and sees around her were knit by hand and that she could do it too!

For me, looking up from a table to all at once see a virtual SEA of BNS families fill the cafeteria, visiting, smiling, sitting with each other to teach and make was so powerful!  Such concentration on the learning makers' faces and everywhere, busy hands and people sitting and standing together, totally engaged!

-Tish Doggett, Parent

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

"Glorious, industrious, lively, lovely."

-Mike Shapiro, Parent

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Thank you to everyone who made this inspiring event possible: Janine, AnnMarie, the awesome PTA, Barbara and Johanna, all the volunteers and our wonderful documentarians Kathryn, Justin and Sam.