PHOTOS BY NADINE BAXTER

Art Club members at Surprise Lake Middle School beautify their school by painting murals in the classroom. From left to right: Hanna Walters, Kristyn Garn, Regina Crawford, and Courtney Gray.

Students learn through art

By Matt Nagle

Nadine Baxter’s art classes at Surprise Lake Middle School (SLMS) have been a beehive of activity lately, and the results of her students’ efforts can be seen right on the school walls and even on the Internet where their works are published on www.Artsonia.com.

Among other recent accomplishments, the SLMS Art Club just finished a large mural in Katie McDermott’s classroom, a painting of a snow-capped Mt. Rainier with life-sized figures in silhouette standing in the foreground. The image of the mountain, which is immediately recognizable to viewers, was painted by the art clubbers freehand. The club just became “official” with a constitution and elected president and is open to students of any arts discipline. Membership now is at 15.

The students have been having a great time beautifying their school and making the place their own. The club’s next project will be to decorate the trashcans around the school by painting them to look like various creatures.

Baxter’s enthusiasm for her work shows both in how she treats her students’ art with care and respect and in how she views art as a tool to teach sometimes difficult to learn concepts. Perhaps most importantly, making art provides her young charges with a new way of self-expression.

“It’s a communication tool,” she said. “Art is not just slapping paint on paper, it says something; it communicates emotions and feelings.”

Recently Baxter seized an opportunity to explore multiculturalism through art with her sixth- and seventh-graders when one student, without realizing it, “did some racial profiling with one of his comments in class,” as Baxter explained it. “It became a teachable moment, and we celebrated all the different cultures,” including what different colors mean to different cultures and that every culture has its own creation story. Seeking collaboration from the community, she invited some of her Native American friends into the classroom to show the students the difference between tacky, commercial Indian art and authentic, traditional Indian art. “I learned from that as well,” Baxter commented.

Last year they studied the Harlem Renaissance, which Baxter continued teaching again this year with her new students who have just entered the sixth grade.

Getting her students’ work published so it can be shared and enjoyed by family and friends is another of Baxter’s endeavors. “My job is to help these kids get published and that’s what I do with Artsonia.” By submitting their work to the website, anyone can log on to see what the youngsters have created, and even purchase their designs on merchandise like coffee mugs, tote bags and bumper stickers. For every item purchased, SLMS receives 20 percent of the sales.

Currently, SLMS ranks third in the state for the number of works published on the site and eighth in the state for overall participation. And again this year, Baxter received Artsonia’s Annual Leadership Award, a recognition given to just 10 teachers across the state. The school has received 18 awards in all over its past five years of participation and has always ranked in the top 10.

“That’s really my goal, to get them validated by getting them online,” Baxter said.

In addition to her teaching duties, Baxter recently entered two of her own paintings for the Federal Way Arts Commission juried art show “Arts Alive.” Her paintings “Spreading Angels,” a portrait of herself as a little boy blowing dandelions, and “Transformation,” a circular painting done in a mirrored style like a

kaleidoscope, will hang in Federal Way City Hall until Jan. 6.

A teacher for 30 years, nearly 19 of them in the Fife School District, Baxter is a candidate for national board certification. “It’s quite an honor because the standards are very high,” she said. Like board-certified doctors and accountants, teachers who achieve national board certification have met rigorous standards through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment and peer review. She finished all of the required exams in June, and will know by December whether or not she won certification. She said certification can be a three-year process for many teachers given the stringent requirements.

Story Tools