On Friday, January 20, the staff at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching hosted a small punch-and-cookies reception for Ocracoke School 4th graders and their parents. NCCAT was celebrating the new art exhibit adorning the entryway of their dining hall. The students had contributed beautiful paintings of trees, accompanied by original haiku poems.
“Haiku poetry is usually about nature and the seasons,” said Ocracoke School art teacher Kitty Mitchell. “And the students interpreted the seasons through trees.”
Haiku poems have
Five syllables, then seven
And then five again
Great art, plus writing
Across the curriculum –
Perfect for NCCAT
Along with the students’ artwork, Kitty, an accomplished artist, had three of her own nature paintings on display.
NCCAT staff members Nancy Leach and Regina O’Neal said that they’d wanted to collaborate with Kitty for a long time.
“Our new director, Elaine Franklin, is wonderful,” Nancy said. “She spends time on Ocracoke and checks on us. She encouraged us to do this project.”
Nancy invited Kitty to bring some artwork to NCCAT, and asked if there was a particular group of students to start with. The tree/haiku pieces were an obvious first choice.
“We’d love to get more artwork,” Regina said. “Getting student art is all new, and funds are short, but we hope to do something like this on a larger scale eventually, for the whole community.”
Kids and parents came
Yummy cookies and red punch
Nice little party
Trees through the seasons
Beautiful art on display
Lovely poetry
