Utah YAM 2017-2018, Moving to a new school.

Garland Munn from Juab High School was the
Utah Youth Art Month Flag winner for 2017-2018.

I like blogging.  It feels like a quiet way to talk to the world and no one really notices except the people who are most important.  I am working late tonight trying to finalize the Utah YAM (Youth Art Month) report for 2017-2018.   Things have been a bit crazy for me this year.  My father was ill most of the year and he passed away in March, just when I was trying to pull things together for our Youth Art Month celebration.  We ended up postponing our art show until May.

I knew we were moving to a new high school in May, but I did an art show anyway and then I had to move out of my art room while I was still trying to teach and finish up the year.

I didn't know if I could possibly make the move and I spent many days during the last to weeks going back to the school at night and working until 1 or 2 in the morning trying to box everything up.   I had so much stuff in that tiny room!  The science teacher down the hall had pity on me and stayed after one day to help me.  We had all the materials, tools and supplies for stained glass, jewelry making, art journaling, drawing and painting.  I had been trying to organize each box as I packed.  He just started putting stuff in boxes as quick as he could.  I think it was a good thing.  I let go of my perfectionism and things really started moving more quickly.

There was a melancholy feeling in the air when I looked back at the empty room.  The projector was gone.  Everything was gone.  This room had become more and more crowded as I started with 3 preps and then added 3 more.  6 different classes with lots of supplies.  Now that it was empty it made me almost want to move back in without so much stuff.

Looking back towards the window.
The soldering stations were actually very efficient.

The projector was a bit awkward to use with a pull down screen.

Peel and stick tiles are a quick way to transform an ugly counter.

The wall behind the sink was really bad so we started
tiling it with abandoned mosaics.  I will miss this artwork.

There were so many good memories in this room.  I remember the first day I came to work it was piled with mounds of broken glass and tons of paperwork.  I was excited to teach stained glass but I wasn't quite sure how to organize everything.  I spent three days going through things. Lauren sorted the glass and Morgan tried to fix all the grinders.  The counters were green and stained. I tried to make it better by covering the counters with peel and stick tiles.  They lasted 5 years and they still look good.

Looking at the empty room made me wonder... so I went back a few years ago and tried to find some pics of the first day of school.  This was the year I painted the tables deep blue.  It was a warm and friendly room.  When we added all the students it got pretty crowded, but we had fun making art together.  I am grateful for the time I spent here.

First day of school...before the students arrived.

This is a lesson on how to fit a lot of stuff in a very tiny room.

My still life shelves.... before they got too crowded.

Closing the door on room #13.

And so the door closes on lots of memories and good times.  Even though I will miss my old room, I am excited to move on to a new adventure.  The new school will be wonderful.  The principal sent us an email and said we could start moving in tomorrow.