Students creating works of art out of a challenging year

By Dale Woodard on May 6, 2021.

Herald photo by Dale Woodard Lakeview Elementary School principal Dawn Walmsley stands next to some artistic creations by the school's kindergarten students, made as part of Mental Health Week and Education Week.

In a time when it’s truly needed, students at Lakeview Elementary School have shown some artistic flair with their mental health in mind.
As part of Mental Health Week and Education Week, students at the school have displayed a penchant for painting, printmaking and tie-dying with their completed creations proudly displayed on the windows outside the schools for a convenient drive-by visit for the parents.
The artistic works for Mental Health Week and Education Week were done under the theme Name It, Don’t Numb It.
Considering the topsy-turvy past year with the COVID-19 pandemic and the continued uncertainty and change it brings – leading to mental challenges for everyone – Lakeview Elementary School principal Dawn Walmsley noted the importance of taking time to highlight mental health awareness as well as Education Week.
“This has been a challenging year for all of our students, communities and families and although the kids are doing OK, you might say, we really need to remember all of this has a really big impact on them and the theme of Name It, Don’t Numb It is really important for our students to be able to identify what they’re feeling and be able to categorize it with the names so it can be dealt with appropriately,” she said. “For Education Week, learning is a journey and it sure has been a journey. It has changed so much in the short span of a year-and-a-half. We’re all along for the ride and we’ve seen our kids be very resilient, but we’re also very mindful that we need to make sure we’re all OK at the end of the journey.”
Walmsley spoke of the change the students have had to deal with, but also how they’ve adapted on the fly, starting at the beginning of the school year when they fully returned, but with numerous restrictions and health precautions in place.
“So, at the beginning of the year, it was challenging to get the students to remember to be properly masked, to be socially and physically distant, to wash their hands, to make sure they weren’t working in small groups without masks and they were remarkable how quickly they adapted,” said Walmsley. “Although many teachers would say when they’re in their classrooms things are almost the same, the impact is there. Kids are feeling unsettled. Kids aren’t coming back from weekends feeling like they’ve had their buckets filled. Teachers and staff aren’t coming back having the variety of experience we know and love and when the seasons change the opportunities aren’t necessarily there to get together with your family and friends. It takes a toll. It’s been a long year, but our staff and students have been amazing and really just dug into everything. We’re very proud of Lakeview.”
When it came time to create, the students jumped right into different forms of not only art, but the themes of their creations.
“We’ve had some students do different types of painting,” said Walmsley. “Our older students are doing some printmaking, which involves a little more finesse and skill. We’ve had some beautiful tie-dye experiences and tissue paper, which is always a favourite in school. They’ve really embraced wherever their classes were, tied to the curriculum, and what they wanted to show.”
Walmsley said the kindergarten students made some creations talking about spring.
“So their pictures are very joyful,” she said. “Into our Grades 4 and 5s, they’re talking about Indigenous knowledge. So they’re showcasing some of that type of art. It just really reflects what the individual classes are doing.”
Walmsley said normally the school is full of parents and volunteers, but due to the pandemic that hasn’t been possible this year.
Still, Lakeview Elementary School has done what they can to keep the parents engaged and able to view their children’s creations.
“For the first part of the year we’ve taken pictures of our bulletin boards and pictures of our students’ work and put it on our web page,” said Walmsley. “But with the nice weather we wanted to encourage people to come by our school, a time people could come by for walks during school hours and after school hours and have an inside-outside art gallery for them to see so they can feel a part (of it).”
Walmsley said parents feel disconnected from what their kids are doing when they can’t see what they’re doing.
“This has been a wonderful way for our families to be a part of what’s happening in school. We also have many teachers who do little drive-by visits with parents. Parents will stop at the windows after school and do a check-in to see how things are going. I know the teachers really appreciate that opportunity to still have that face-to-face connection, but to be mindful of the restrictions we have.”

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