BIG NAME

CONGRATS SENIOR JONATHAN MADAMBA 

For winning the NYC Times Square Scholarship

sponsored by Taco Bell for his volunteer work he did last summer in the Dominican Republic. 

In Jonathan's words,

"I volunteered in the D R at the Mariposa Foundation, where I helped to educate and empower underprivileged girls. These girls break down the barriers of sexism and poverty.

 They are my motivation to leave my mark on this world."

Not only did he work did Jon get to help these young girls,

but he also helped to refurbish and clean their classrooms to help get them ready for this summer's programs.

We are so very proud of you here at Whitney Jonathan!!!

You ROCK!!!!

2014-2015 DISTRICT ART SHOW

AN EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY FOR 5 POINTS

My dear friend and fellow Art Teacher over at Cerritos High School,

Ron Parks,

 organizes a district wide art show every year for us. 

He puts in many hours after school printing up labels,

delivering them to us at our various locations,

 and then the day before the show he sets up the tables and easels for us to use.

 He also covers the wall boards so that when we walk in with our pieces

 all we have to do is hang them for display.

Thank you Ron for shouldering this immense responsibility every year.

These are some of our areas of display.

I want to give a special thank you to my assistants,

alumni Alyssa Olea and Josh Berger,

for labeling, 

packing and delivering all our pieces over to the District Office.

Alyssa thought it was going to take two trips but she managed it in one with her monster SUV.

LOL

More thanks go to seniors Laarnie Barcelon and Reis Masaka.

They showed up after school to lend a helping hand and saved us a good two hours of display work.

I'm so very proud of my students and all the hard work they put in for me,

and it's such a pleasure to be able to show off their art  for the community to see and appreciate. 

I also want to feature some of the best pieces from Ron's students at Cerritos High 

that I felt really made the show special.

I want to apologize ahead of time 

 for not jotting your names down as I was photographing your work.

I will return to the show and do that this week and get your names up with your pieces.

I want to start with this work above Prayer Clasp by Minjung Soh.

Truly a masterpiece in acrylic.

Love your use of color and value.

And so very expressive.

It really touched me.

The skill level is extraordinary and I hope you will be continuing on in the arts.

Another piece that really captured my attention was this beautifully painted ballerina in acrylic,

Water & Ballet by Michelle Kim.

Wow, 

you can feel the dancer's movements. 

And I love how you cropped her and painted just the legs.

Powerful work!

Bravo!! 

I've always appreciated an artist who can fracture a subject.

It's very difficult to do and pull off.

And  Hilokilo, you have done it incredibly well.

I also like how you seamlessly moved your colors from the green family to the blush tones. 

Wonderful!

But the piece that stopped me in my tracks was this watercolor.

OMG!!!!

What high school student in America watercolors like this???

It's the very talented Minjung Soh again in Morning Road.

I thought it was done by a pro who had been working in watercolor for years,

not weeks.

Let me know if it's for sale!!!

And another one.

What's going on Mr. Parks???

I'm completely flabbergasted at the level of watercolor that you are getting from these kids.

Based on just this one piece in his portfolio,

Hilokilo should be accepted into any art college of his choosing.

And what a sophisticated work this is!!

Great choice of subject,

Patrick Del Rosa!

Wonderful depth of perspective,

and even has a bit of the feel of an M.C Escher work.

And I want to end with this playful and fun watercolor.

I love your subject Jalyssa Groom in Kyoto at Night, 

and it's asymmetry,

your attention to detail,

and your color choices.

There was no way I could walk by this work without stopping to take a gander.

Ron Park,

whatever you are doing over there in your classroom,

it's working.

And I feel very fortunate that we can display our students works together for all to see and enjoy.

Happy Holidays from My Whitney Family

Where the Dean of Discipline spends 3 hours stitching on his ugly Xmas sweater

that lights up and has dingle balls on the cuffs...

where the students are family because they spend 6 years together,

 supporting,

studying,

 and showing love and kindness to one another...

where the seniors put up their own Xmas tree,

and put out a table so that all can make their own ornaments to hang on the tree...

where a favorite student and her mother will fight with the counselors and figure out how she can take 6 years of art with me...

where 30 7th graders will jump up at a moments notice,

and quickly arrange themselves so that they can wish me a Merry Christmas

and have their picture on the blog...

and where 3 more favorite students will take the time to pose and clown around with one of their favorite teachers.

I love this place where I have spent the last 35 years of my life teaching

these wonderfully bright young people art,

but more importantly,

life & social skills

and how to have fun learning,

and not to take life so seriously.

Happy Holidays,

 and thank you all for coming along for the ride this year.

Xmas School Garden 2014

I thought they were daffodils coming up in Josh's garden, 

but I'd forgotten that he had put in paperwhites last year.

I'm really pleased by how much they've multiplied.

Also on the rise are either ranunculus or anemones.

I guess we'll see when they bloom.

What I do know is that the garden has really enjoyed the recent rains that have finally fallen.

Just wish the ants would disappear.

The Prestigious Blue Ribbon School Award

Congratulations to us!

Whitney High School has won it's 5th Blue Ribbon School Status.

Our Superintendent Dr. Mary Su,

 our Principal Dr. Rhonda Bus, 

and our Student Council/Drama Teacher Jodi Improta all flew to Washington D.C. to be presented with this amazing award.

We have set a record, 

we are the only school in the nation to get the award 5 times,

 and this year the only High School in the Nation this year to receive the award.

Wow, we must be doing something really right  :) 

Congrats to All!!!

Big, Big News

I'm thrilled and very proud to share that my students and I have been featured on an International Online Publication for the artwork we are doing here at Whitney High School.

Go to Spin Artisite to see the article.

Enjoy the trip down Memory Lane my sweet students.

These pix span over the last 6 years that I've been blogging.

Wish I had pix from all 35 years I've been here.

Such beautiful memories, thank you all!