In anticipation for parent teacher conferences on Thursday and Friday of last week, many teachers decorated their rooms and the area outside of their rooms with student work. Two of the more attractive displays were the student art work that was put up by art teachers Ms. Kenealy and Ms. Poirier.

Ms. Kenealy currently teaches Sculpture I, II, and Portfolio, as well as all Digital Art & Photography I sections, and Graphic Design. Ms. Poirier teaches all Drawing and Painting I, II, Portfolio and AP, and Digital Art and Photography II, and Portfolio courses this year. “Each year is different for us, as we both can teach any art class,” Ms. Kenealy said.

Ms. Kenealy has an art display outside of the high school main office on the first floor. Anyone entering the school passes by the students’ work.  “All of those pieces were from last year’s co-op art class. The class consisted of half special needs students and half students who were not special needs,” said Ms. Kenealy. She added that the goal of that class was two-fold. “One was to incorporate a little bit of social interactions [between the diverse groups of learners] and the other involved a little bit of learning.”

When asked about the artwork itself, Ms. Kenealy said, “The concept was called embossing and it was a way to make metal look three-dimensional.”

Unlike Ms. Kenealy, rather than using a display case Ms. Poirier lined up student drawings on the wall outside of her classroom on the second floor. The drawings were from students who ranged from freshmen to seniors in her Drawing and Painting I class. Drawing and Painting I is a one semester class that leads to Drawing and Painting II.

About her students, Ms. Poirier said that “It was their first drawing and they were looking at negative space between the leaves and they were using the negative space in the background to express creativity.”

The artwork by students in both teachers’ classes has made an impact around the school. Mrs. London, the new middle-high school librarian, said, “I love the intricate detail and I like to look at them from both close up and far away. There are very talented students in Abington.”

Student art decorates the school. Be sure to take time to notice and enjoy observing it.