Feb 15 2013
Smart Art / Youth Committee Night
On Friday, February 15th, fifty-five people gathered at Todd Academy for our first-ever Smart Art event followed by our first-ever Youth Committee meeting.
Abby Wolf, the Todd Academy art teacher, created three fantastic Smart Art stations for students to explore. Abby Wolf, Dolly Hayde, Jake Wolf, and David Bonner ran the stations. Thank you all for giving up your evening to make this such a great evening!
Station 1: Matisse Monsters: Paper Collage – Using only construction paper, scissors, and glue, artists built monsters most terrifying (or perhaps just most colorful) from the ground up. In this project, problem solving and innovation was used to create art of monstrous design.
Station 2: Identity in Imagery: Oil Pastels and Watercolor – Combining the science of art-making with the expression of the self, students created paintings that showcase their own personality and identity. Using color, pattern, shape, scale, and their own name, this project gave artists an innovative opportunity to show the world their true colors.
Station 3: Creature Creation: Drawing and Modeling Clay – Creating new animals using real animals for inspiration, artists first designed, then built, their own creatures with clay. This project works with the creative process as well as the power of imagination to help artists work beyond the confines of reality to create new and exciting art.
Once the kids were settled in, Christine Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW led a discussion in another room with parents about raising bright kids.
Immediately after the Smart Art event, Sarah, Mensa member and President elect of the new Youth Committee, called the inaugural session of the student-only Youth Committee to order. After an hour behind closed doors, the committee came out for pizza and to share their ideas with the adults. They elected officers, discussed means of transportation for big trips, suggested new program ideas, and shared their desire for more social time with intellectual peers. More details will be published later in their meeting minutes.
While the Youth Committee met, the adult staff had their own meeting. David Bonner gave an overview of the new web site, and we voted in the new web site. We established two new positions of Programs Chair (Ann Bilodeau) and Assistant Program Chair (Jessie Ramirez). The responsibility of these positions is to ensure that all details are in order for our upcoming programs. We also had a follow-up discussion about the Membership Agent (Devin Lee) and Assistant Membership Agent (Christine Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW) positions we created last spring to help families through the process of qualifying for and joining Mensa. Nathan Perry and Tamera Perry were also part of the discussion.
Overall the evening was full of energy, excitement, and fun! As people made their ways out the door, there were tears of joy for discovering true intellectual peers.
