Teaching the arts: Rosewood art in Raleigh
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on January 23, 2017 8:12 AM
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Rosewood Elementary School fourth-graders Nate Parrish, left, and David Sarmiento complete a painting project in Amy Kennedy's art class. The students worked with tempera paint on their drawings of a cardinal, the state bird.
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News-Argus/PHYLLIS MOORE
Rosewood Elementary School art teacher Amy Kennedy leads a fourth-grade art class in a lesson in preparation of their completing tempera paint renditions of the cardinal, the N.C. state bird. Mrs. Kennedy was recently invited to submitted student artwork to be on display at Rep. John Bell's Raleigh office.
Amy Kennedy grew up wanting to be an art teacher.
She chose a different direction after someone offhandedly mentioned she'd have to take a test.
"I did not know that with every degree you get, there's an end-of-whatever test," she said, laughing now at the recollection. "So I became a diet tech and worked under a dietitian."
Her heart was not in it though.
Then she discovered Mount Olive College, graduating in 2003 with a degree in graphic design.
The former Ohio resident became a lateral entry teacher with Wayne County Public Schools 14 years ago, while continuing her studies to become a licensed teacher.
"My first two (years) were in Sampson County -- I wanted to be hired in WCPS but there were no openings at the time," she said. "Then one came open at North Drive. I was there nine years and this is my third at Rosewood Elementary."
Within the last three years, more doors have been opened to her, from receiving a mini grant from the Chamber of Commerce to having the opportunity to bring in visiting artists, all while passing along her love of art to her students.
Recently she was approached by a co-worker about having her student's artwork on display at North Carolina House Rep. John Bell's office in Raleigh. She wound up using her graphic design skills to create a sign to accompany the exhibit.
The framed artwork will be part of a rotating exhibit in the office of the state majority leader, she said. In April, she will choose another group of students to have their work featured.
"It's just a nice reflection not only for me but for the children," she said. "I think the greatest thing about this whole blessing and honor is that people receive a lot of joy when looking at children's art."
At a time when districts have phased out the arts being taught in school, Mrs. Kennedy said she is grateful that is not the case in Wayne County.
"The principals have been supportive of the arts and Wayne County Public Schools, too, they have very highly qualified art teachers and that's important to the state because a lot of counties are taking away the arts," she said. "I think in every occupation there is the arts, photography -- (for example) doctors need visuals to go by.
"It's more than crayons and scissors, and I want people to get that."
Students are the quintessential blank canvas, and Mrs. Kennedy enjoys the potential before her in the classroom.
She incorporates several subjects into the teaching of art -- from literacy to technology, as well as music, which she often has playing in the background while the children create.
"I can give a child a blank piece of paper, and at the end, they have created their own little masterpiece according to what they heard and saw and what they have been taught," she said. "(The reward is) just the joy that the children receive, especially when they make a mistake and they turn around and have to make a discovery.
"People come to me and say, 'I can't even draw a stick figure.' But I say, yes, you can because art is what you know."
She believes everyone is an artist in his own way.
"You just take what you already know and you break it down," she said. "To me, art is like a recipe. You've got to break it down. You're like a scientist. You have to break it down and understand it before you can build it up.
"There's what the challenge in teaching is, because every child learns differently."
Artwork currently on display at Bell's office includes a still life by kindergartner Bryden Hare; a N.C. lighthouse by first-grader Jahquan Durham; an owl collage by second-grader Addyson McKeel; and a lighthouse and cardinal by fourth-graders Melanie Fulmer and Abigail Forsythe, respectively.
Fifth-graders Abraham Alkhanshali and Emily Barron Aguilera contributed Mattice paper cutouts, while classmate Aaron Ingram's depiction of a John James Audubon realistic bird was chosen, and Paige Mullis will be represented by her winter landscape.
"These children will be considered my honors art children," Mrs. Kennedy said. "They will be lifted up on awards day. Of course, their names have been announced over the intercom and a letter has been sent home telling their parents where to call before they go to Raleigh (to see it)."