Night to Shine

My students make fun of me for getting the name wrong half the time. I may call it "Night of Specialness," or  "Night to Remember," but the Night to Shine is truly something special that you won't ever forget.

I love that Tim Tebow wants to give special needs teens and adults a evening each year to feel like royalty: complete with crown. And I love how many volunteers work countless hours to put the event together at churches across the country. There is a room for girls to get their hair and make up done, limo rides out front, a dance floor, a photo booth, and a dining area.

But the thing that brought a lump to my throat was the red carpet lined with velvet ropes coming in and out. People were lined up clapping and cheering as our students came and left the dance.  It was a sweet experience for me, for my students, and even for the volunteers. 

 

Soapbox Derby

I love seeing students outside the classroom, so it was fun to work with them on a Saturday in April to participate in the soapbox derby. It was an unusually cold day so we bundled up and brought hot chocolate, but we held our own in the competition and it was fun to revisit the car my art students and I painted, after a couple of years collecting it dust during COVID. Memories were made and we ended up making the front of the Sunday Telegraph to boot!

 

Screen Printing Camp T-shirts

My school stayed open last weekend for students who wanted to participate in a "short course weekend" experience. Orientation and Mobility was the official course focus since it is part of the Extended Core Curriculum for students who are blind. But music came into enough of our activities that we titled the weekend "Moving and Grooving." Activities included learning how to call and take a cab, taking a downtown walking tour of all the important music sites in the area (like where Little Richard, James Brown, and Ottis Redding got their start, or where Gregg Allman proposed to Cher), Kamikaze Karaoke, learning line dancing, and going on a scavenger hunt.

Our budget kept us from ordering pre-printed t-shirts, so I used the art budget to buy a $4 long-sleeve t-shirt for each student. We organized students into 4 teams, so I got a different color shirt for each team. My husband helped me design a logo, which I sent to my friend, Matt Forrest. He not only got a mini grant to buy a T-shirt press, but he processed the screens, and brought 3 college students as volunteers to help my students print their own shirts. We used hair dryers to dry the ink. It was a great project for a great weekend!