stress relief stress relief

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ART PROVIDES STRESS RELIEF

students used art to take creative brain breaks

photo/Brooke Sharifzadeh

DRAW IT OUT. To practice her drawing skills, sophomore Evelynn Jackson sketches in Draw 2. “[I enjoy art class] because it’s just a fun outlet for any mood you are in. I love to make portraits to catch a person’s emotions,” Jackson said.

AP Studio Art and Draw 2 teacher Nicole Moitoza felt taking an art class benefited students because classes allowed for students to have creative exploration in different aspects of their abilities. “Sometimes drawing, painting or using colored pencils and focusing on one thing can be really fulfilling for some students,” Moitoza said. “The transition and solitary focus is good and stress relieving for them.” Although art served as a brain break for some students, art classes still held students to deadlines. “I still have to get my work done, but it is entirely my choice of how I get it done and that gives me a sense of ownership over my work,” Daniel said. Like other courses, art classes followed required curriculum from the county. However, art classes still allowed for more self-expression, stress relief and creativity. Students gained the freedom to create and use skills not practiced in other classes. “It exercises a different part of their brain,” Moitoza said. “They have to focus on different aspects and it gives them creative freedom to put everything together.” CONTENT AND DESIGN BY CATHERINE MCCARTHY

photo/Brooke Sharifzadeh

photo/Catherine McCarthy

AS THE THIRD PERIOD BELL RANG, SENIOR William Daniel took a deep breath as he walked into his photography class, his only non-AP class of the day. Students with rigorous class schedules found stress relief and freedom of opportunity within their art, photography, and ceramics classes. “Too many AP classes is a bad thing,” Daniel said. “It places too much stress [on students] and [it helps] having a class where you are still engaging your mind, but not overextending your abilities.” Freshman Cassidy Camera, a student enrolled in her first AP class, Human Geography, also felt that art helped her get through the school year. “[My art class made me feel] refreshed because the class falls between my two hardest classes, and without it, I wouldn’t have a break,” Camera said. “I can go to art class, there is no right or wrong answer and I don’t have to think as hard.” Students like Daniel viewed the environment of his art class as a contributing factor to the stress-relieving benefits of taking an art class alongside AP courses. “[John] Burke plays music, you just walk in and you can take a deep breath and it’s just happy,” Daniel said

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. While in Nicole Moitoza’s Draw 2 class, junior Alexander Strauss draws in his sketchbook. “[I chose to take art because] I feel under the instruction of a teacher, I would improve much faster than on my own,” Strauss said.

WE ASKED, YOU ANSWERED

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ACADEMICS

about art

BLENDING: the gradual combination of colors or graphite in an artwork, gets rid of harsh lines MEDIUM: the materials used to make a work of art such as clay, markers, or a camera COIL: a rolled up piece of clay that, when stacked on top of one another, creates a coil pot SKETCH: a drawing done in graphite to plan a drawing or another work of art FORM: an element of art which represents a three-dimensional shape, such as pottery

SCULPT CITY. Junior Emma Thomas sculpts a pot in her ceramics class. “[I enjoy ceramics because] it’s really relaxing and fun and it’s something you can look forward to when you are stressed about your other classes,” Thomas said. Thomas’s goal in the class was to improve with every project they did and to try and make it better than the last one. photo/Catherine McCarthy

WHAT ABOUT CERAMICS?

COIL IT UP. As junior Sophia Kegler works in her ceramics class, she attaches a rolled up clay coil to her pot. “[I enjoy ceramics] because it’s really calming and I don’t worry about anything else and I thought it would be an interesting class to take because I have seen it on TV,” Kegler said. For every project assigned in her class, Kegler tried to reach her goal of getting her artwork turned in on time. WORK IT OUT. Smoothing the edges of her clay pot with her fingers, junior Shelby Reardon works on her pottery piece in her third period ceramics class.

photo/Brooke Sharifzadeh

photo/Catherine McCarthy

CARLIE RAPER junior

WHAT YOU WON: Merit Award, second place in Photography at the Maitland Rotary Art Festival Student Division. HOW YOU MADE IT: Physical manipulation. I cut it up and rearranged it. INSPIRATION FOR THE PHOTO: Kensuke Koike. I found him on Instagram and I like the abstract ideas. HOW YOU FELT WHEN YOU WON: I was really proud of my piece. FAVORITE PART OF PHOTOGRAPHY: The close-knit relationships we build with other students.

TERMS TO KNOW

SMOOTH IT OUT. Senior Omar Salas-Perez smooths the edges of his clay pot in ceramics.

ART CLASSES

“I jumped off a 60-foot cliff once,” sophomore Bailey Daniel said.

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