Extra Credit

Winning Fort Worth student artwork to be on sides of The T buses this summer

Ten pieces of award winning artwork from Fort Worth school district students will be shown on the sides of public buses starting in June.

The students won The T's year-long Expressions That Move You art contest, for students in the school district's Fort Worth After School program.

In all, 86 pieces of artwork were submitted. Students could enter a drawing, painting, photograph or collage. Here was their assignment: "Express what moves you about The T – what it means to you and your family, the city of Fort Worth and our environment."

This year's winners:
• Julissa Sandoval, 4th grade, MH Moore Elementary School – Grand Prize
• Cung Nei Sang, 3rd grade, L. Clifford Davis Elementary School
• Joycelyn Garza, 3rd grade, Charles Nash Elementary School
• Ashley Houze, 3rd grade, E.M. Daggett Elementary School
• Binh Le, 8th grade and CharmaineThomas, 7th grade, Handley Middle School – Grand Prize
• Monica Johnson, 8th grade, William James Middle School
• Dekota D’Brell, 8th grade, Monnig Middle School
• Jocelyn Hernandez, 12th grade, Dunbar High School – Grand Prize
• Criseida Valdez, 11th grade, Paschal High School
• Manuel Valdez, 9th grade, International Newcomer Academy

Jessamy Brown

 

Fort Worth students put language studies to use at Kimbell Art Museum's gallery night

Fort Worth school district students who are taking foreign languages will put their knowledge to use at Global Gallery Night at the Kimbell Art Museum on Friday.

The teens, who have taken at least three years of language studies, will serve as docents or tour guides, sharing their insights about the artwork in the permanent collection at the museum. The event is sponsored by the museum and the Fort Worth school district's world languages department. Students have taken part for eight years, according to a news release. 

Students had a mandatory orientation at the Kimbell.

The school district offers instruction in several languages, including French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, German, Latin, Chinese and American Sign Language.

Global Gallery Night:

• Kimbell Art Museum, 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth
• Friday, April 19, 6 to 8 p.m.

Jessamy Brown 

Fort Worth schools choirs will perform at holiday concerts in Fort Worth's Sundance Square

School choirs from several Fort Worth school district campuses are to perform for shoppers and downtown workers alike with free holiday concerts at Sundance Square.

The first holiday concert is Wednesday morning. The groups will be at the corner of Third and Main streets.

Here is the schedule:

• Wednesday, December 5: Edward J. Briscoe Elementary – 11 a.m.
• Friday, December 7: William James Middle School - 11 a.m.; Southwest High School – 12 p.m.; Western Hills High School A Cappella Choir – 6:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, December 11: Luella Merrett Elementary – 4:30 p.m. 
• Thursday, December 13: Dunbar High School – 11 a.m.; Rosemont 6th Grade Center – 12 p.m.; Benbrook Middle School – 1 p.m.; North Hi Mount Elementary Honor Choir – 7 p.m.
• Friday, December 14: Manual Jara Elementary – 11 a.m.; Hazel Harvey Peace Elementary – 6:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, December 18: Atwood McDonald Elementary “Show Stoppers” – 11:30 a.m.; Daggett Middle School and Leonard Middle School Choirs – 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, December 19: David K. Sellars Fine Arts Academy Choral Ensemble - 11 a.m.; J.T. Stevens Elementary “Cardinal Choir” – 11:45 a.m.; Wedgwood Middle School and Wedgwood 6th Grade Center Choirs – 1:45 p.m.; Como Elementary B Sharp Youth Music – 4 p.m.; Trimble Tech High School Choir – 7 p.m.
• Thursday, December 20: Carter-Riverside High School – 11:30 a.m.; Forest Oak Middle School – 12 p.m.; Western Hills High School Concert Choir – 1 p.m.; Bonnie Brae Elementary Honor Choir – 1:30 p.m.; Richard J. Wilson Elementary – 6 p.m.

Jessamy Brown

Arlington student's poster among statewide winners in voting campaign

Nobody can blame Phillip Smith, a student at Arlington's Ousley Junior High School, for being apathetic about voting.

Smith came up a winner in a statewide contest for his poster aimed at inspiring more people to get out and vote.

He won third place in the Tex Elects middle school poster contest, sponsored by the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas at Austin. Kevin Nute, his teacher, sponsored his entry.

There are sections for essays, posters, and other media created by middle and high school students in the contest to create nonpartisan campaign messages.

The Tex Elects contest complements civics and government classes, where students are taught about the presidential election and the importance of citizen participation.

About 3,000 posters have been distributed this year through the Institute's coalition of campus voter registration organizations, teachers and schools.

Ousley will receive a $50 gift in honor of Smith's win. The money can be used for classroom supplies, books and equipment, or a class field trip or party.

_Shirley Jinkins

 

 

Sid Richardson Museum's first ever spring break day camp was a watercolor whirl of fun

It got messy early Wednesday morning with younsters splashing, dabbing and dripping watercolors across small canvasses at the Sid Richardson Museum.

Olivia Elofsson, 8, painted big waves of deep blue across a wet surface and the added just a quick stroke of red, creating a sort of dreamy ocean-like hodgepodge scene using the so-called "wet on wet" technique.

"I like 'wet on wet' better because it looks all tie-dyedy," Olivia said, reaching for more blue.

The watercolor workshops this week are the museum's first ever day camps during a Spring Break, and officials said they quickly filled with a long waiting list. About two dozen students filled each workshop to learn about water coloring techniques (such as wet on dry, wet on wet, crayon resistant, and salt) and Western artist Charles M. Russell, who was a famous watercolor painter whose works are on display at the downtown museum.

Carson Long, 9, couldn't decide if he liked the "wet on wet" or the so-called salt technique in which the salt is sprinkled on the watercolor, distorting the paint and adding a bumpy texture.

"On this paper, I'm going to do them all at once and it's going to look awesome," Carson said.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Photo: At right, the museum's Kat Yount teaches students the "crayon resistant" method in which the crayon helps contain the spread of watercolor paint.

Who is Brandon Oldenburg wearing to the Oscars? Fort Worth's Dickies

One of director Brandon Oldenburg's first projects was filming his school's field trips.

As a fourth grader at Birdville's Holiday Heights Elementary School in North Richland Hills, Oldenburg recalls using his camera to document his class taking a school bus to Fort Worth's Omni iMAX Theatre. They saw "Hail, Columbia," about a space shuttle launch.

"It looked like "The Wonder Years," people just waving at the camera real fast," said Oldenburg, of Shreveport, La. (left, in a photo by Daymon Gardner)

His 15 minute film "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" is up for best animated short film at this Sunday's Academy Awards. More about that in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Here's a still from the film, provided by Moonbot Studios.

He'll be prepared if luck goes his way. He is working on an acceptance speech, just in case, after receiving a note from the Oscar organizers that read: “remember, spontaneity takes preparation.”

Whatever happens, Oldenburg, 38, will be decked out in unusual duds. Fort Worth-based workwear maker Dickies is making custom tuxedos for Oldenburg and film co-director William Joyce, an author and illustrator. (Oldenburg says his wife, Shannon Duskin Oldenburg, is wearing a dress created by a costume designer, not Dickies. She's also a 1991 Richland High grad).

The tuxedos are made from the same black twill as Dickies 874 work pants and classic Eisenhower jacket, 65 percent polyester and 35 percent cotton. The jackets have satin trim and a satin shawl collar and silver buttons with the Dickie's logo. Per Oldenburg's request, the jackets are lined with high-visibility orange and his pants have a cell phone pocket.

It's the company's first Oscar tuxedo, said Matthew McCartin, vice president of marketing for Dickies. (Dickies photos, below).

"It was kind of a neat experience. We used one of our pattern makers. We went to Louisiana and took their measurements and cut the pattern," McCartin said. "That tux will last him 30, 40 years, it is very durable." 

Jessamy Brown

 

 

Fort Worth students' efforts part of city earning All-American recognition

This weekend Fort Worth earned its third claim to being an All-American City. The honor comes from the National Civic League, which awards the moniker to cities and towns for efforts that focus on innovation, inclusiveness, civic engagement and cross collaboration.

The We Are Legal anti-graffiti program was one of three cited for this year's win. Through W.A.L., Fort Worth art students create murals on buildings that have been chronically hit by taggers. In 2009, the students helped a small convenient store that was being marked up by rival gangs (pictured at right). Last summer, they helped cover graffiti on a small building at Calvary Cathedral International church's complex that housed materials for Operation Stitches, an outreach of the church that collects school supplies and groceries for those in need (pictured below). 

Among those involved are Mary Boswell, a Carter-Riverside High School art teacher, and Maria Patino, a former art teacher who worked on W.A.L. projects at Diamond Hill-Jarvis and North Side high schools.

You can see the NCL's announcement and Mayor Mike Moncrief's acceptance here beginning at timestamp 40:25.

 

 

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Birdville to screen student film festival finalists on Thursday

Student film directors will showcase their work on the big screen at Birdville's April Fools Film Festival on Thursday.

Finalists in a contest for student films will be shown at 6:30 p.m. at the Birdville Center of Technology and Advanced Learning, which officials said has an "industry quality" movie theater. If you miss it, check out the films on www.bisdtv.com, coming soon.

It's called the April Fools fest because the deadline to finish the projects was April 1.

All three of the finalists in the high school category are students in the Haltom High School theater department, said media technology teacher Karen Seimears.

Students submitted videos of about 2 to 8 minutes in these catagories: drama, documentary, comedy and educational.

Winners are being judged on creativity, storytelling ability, overall impression and technical ability, including making sure that dialogue can be heard and that proper lighting is used.

The entries were judged and critiqued by students in the advanced audio/visual production program at the center, known as BCTAL, in North Richland Hills.

Jessamy Brown

 

Tournament of Roses president at Birdville's Bandfest tonight

Birdville school district's three high school marching bands are hosting the president of the Tournament of Roses at a special event tonight. Jeffrey Throop is scheduled to be at the "Bandfest" event at the Birdville Fine Arts/Athletics Complex tonight at 7 p.m. General admission is free.

The bands from Birdville, Haltom and Richland high schools will march in the Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 1 in California. Tonight, the bands will perform their competition marching shows. Then, all seven Birdville middle school band programs will join the high schools in a finale, according to the fine arts department.

Jessamy Brown

Birdville's high school marching band event for Rose Parade

Students from all three high school marching bands in Birdville ISD will show off their skills in a Moonlight Marching Madness event Saturday evening in a fundraiser for the combined bands’ trip to the 2011 Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day.

The mass band will march the equivalent of seven miles around the BISD Fine Arts/Athletics Complex, 9200 Mid Cities Boulevard, North Richland Hills. Admission is free to the event, 6 to 11 p.m., which will include carnival-style activities, including hot air balloon rides.

The trip to Pasadena, Calif. will be the first time marching bands from Birdville, Haltom and Richland high schools will march together. Another fundraising event is scheduled for Oct. 4.

Jessamy Brown