Reinstilling My Faith in Childhood


Today while I was suffering through the practice run of my state - wide standardized tests, I was using a bitch's zonk board to complain that my students had finished their tests early and were driving me crazy. The harpie suggested that I hold a drawing contest for my seventh graders to pass the time (at least for a few minutes). The competition asked them to draw a scene from their wierdest dream. The prize: Winner could choose any item from the snack machine and I would buy it for them (hey, it's a teacher's salary). I figured that it would be a popularity contest, and it very nearly was. There was a three-way tie between the two most popular boys (N and A) and one average girl (B). The girl's drawing and explanaition were funnier - she had the whole class laughing - but I still thought one of the boys would win. At the very last minute, B's drawing had two more votes than the others. I told Voldemort's wife and company that I would post the winning picture, and I am proud to do so, because the kids proved they were more committed to art (of a fashion) than to popularity. Sometimes they actually make me proud.
The above dream scene portrays B making a lettuce and cheese sandwich, which then comes to life and runs up the stairs.
The drawing below is my personal favorite, not only because D's dream of a hand rising up out of her filling bathtub is creepy, but also because of the Ebony and Jet magazines on the back of the toilet.

So, here's to my inner-city seventh graders spending time creating instead of destroying. Proving (no surprise) even the project kids like to make art and need their Fine Arts funding (don't even get me started).

"...to paint a picture or to write a story or to compose a song is an incarnational activity. The artist is a servant who is willing to be a birthgiver." ~ Madeliene L'Engle Walking on Water (one of my favorite books)