Grand Junction, Colorado is one of those western towns that can’t really decide if it wants to be progressive or good ol’ boy. Maybe the longtime residents just ignore us newbies (anyone who has been here less than 30 years is pretty much a newbie) and go on just doing what they do. Ranching, mining, farming, hunting, fishing, going to church and loving the occasional air show. But downtown Grand Junction tells a story of people who have kept culture and art alive for over 100 years, over 200 miles from any city of any size, and from those cities, another several hundred miles to the NEXT city of any size. Distances are in days out here. I grew up in a town the size of Grand Junction, but in California, where cities aren’t separated by long stretches of desert and towns are blips along a very lonely highway. In California, it’s easy to find a place where art and music are never even questioned as to whether they should be within reach of any average person. This town, like most towns in the West, was a wagon-stop, a train watering stop, a gathering place around rivers and between mountains. Our downtown shows its history in old brick and stone buildings, in the railroad yard and silos. The difference is that in 1962, when small cities all over the country were looking at all kinds of ways to stave off the death of their older downtown, Grand Junction made exactly the right choice in funding a walking business park on Main Street. Public art, along with shade trees and benches were central to the plan. Business people and residents saw that keeping a cultural identity and supporting local art was fundamental to maintaining pride and character in the community. That community pride and identity is one reason we landed here. We take anyone who comes to visit us downtown to see the wonderful buildings, unique restaurants and stores, and the public art on every street, every 15 or 20 feet. Nobody we’ve taken downtown has ever said “You have WAY too much art here!” It’s a point of pride. Make no mistake, this is still a western town, with ranches and pasture weaving into the fabric of close-in neighborhoods, and petroleum extraction and coal mining very much a part of everyday life. In 1980 Exxon came to town. Up in the mountains east of here, was oil shale, and Exxon wanted it. The scale of their plans were truly mind-boggling. A new airport, a whole shopping mall and five brand-new schools, and that was just the beginning. Thousands of jobs, millions of dollars, a boom that would end Middle East oil dependency! People poured into Grand Junction, built homes and excitedly planned for shiny new schools for their children. But almost as soon as it began, it was over. Exxon pulled out, said “oops, we made a little mistake here…hehehe…we can’t afford to extract the oil from the shale. Our bad!” And just like that, the town emptied. Tax revenue tanked, and the schools scrambled to stay open. Little wonder they trimmed back to skeletal funding, and art education was one of the first programs to disappear. NOW we get to what I do every week. It didn’t take long for several members of this community who knew that art education is fundamental to a child’s growth to find a way to put it back into the elementary schools. Classroom teachers taught art as a part of their curriculum, but there were artists and college teachers and community members who wanted children to learn about important artists, who they were and how they shaped the world. Art Heritage was born. It started in one school, with a poster or two and a written biography of each artist. Slides were added, and a hands-on project. Music on tape
Teacher Resources
Can Boys Write About Girls, and Vice-Versa?
The standard advice for new writers — “Write what you know” — is good advice for all writers. When you write about what you know first hand, you have your own experiences to draw on. You can fill in all those details from your own life to make your characters, their emotions, and the situations they find themselves in believable. It’s not surprising that most of the stories we publish in Stone Soup by girl authors have girls as the main characters. And most of our boy authors write about boys. But every once in a while, we find a great story where the author has managed to create believable characters of the opposite sex. In our November/December 2015 issue, we have not one but two such stories! In “Face Your Fears,” 12-year-old author Jem Burch, a boy from California, writes about two sisters who were abandoned by their parents when they were very young. Flash forward eight years, and the sisters are living what should be a happy life with their loving adoptive mom, Amber. But older sister Katherine can’t get past the trauma of losing her parents. It’s younger sister Lily who finally helps Katherine face her fears and snap out of her depression. “Thank You, Mr. Huffington,” by 10-year-old Nadia Suben of New York, shows us a young boy who is also dealing with loss. Josh misses his dad terribly. He reluctantly joins the school band. He likes the band teacher, Mr. Huffington, but he doesn’t practice his trumpet. Then there’s a pivotal scene where Mr. Huffington confronts Josh, and Josh confides, “My dad… he was a jazz musician.” Josh starts to cry, and Mr. Huffington, great guy that he is, knows just what to do. He puts his arm around Josh to comfort him. He helps Josh see that music can help him cope with a tough situation. Josh will never forget Mr. Huffington’s advice, or his kindness. Both of our young authors show a deep understanding of their characters. Both make us believe that these are real people. We are moved by them. We feel what they feel. How do Jem and Nadia do it? How do they put themselves in the minds of a character of the opposite sex? Perhaps Jem has a sister he knows really well. Perhaps Nadia has a brother. I bet both authors read a lot and get ideas for their own work by paying close attention to what they read. While it may not be the obvious choice for a boy to write about girls, or vice-versa, why not give it a try? Start by thinking about the stories Jem and Nadia wrote. Then think about your favorite kids’ books by adults. Harry Potter comes to mind, of course. Give yourself a challenge and try writing a story from a point of view that is very different from your own, but still believable.
Gifted Soup: Thinking Outside of the Soup Pot
Gifted Soup: Thinking Outside the Soup Pot I have always loved the story of stone soup creation. With two identified gifted kids, it has taken on new meanings for me as a parent. While everyone brings something to add to the soup pot, I have to picture my 13-year-old son bringing in extra stones to add to the thermal density of the soup pot while criticizing the lack of a guiding recipe and the overall ingredient mix. My 10-year-old daughter would just refuse to participate at all and instead choose to bring desserts, spoons, bowls and napkins. As I sat down to write this first blog entry, I thought about how both of my kids in their quirky giftedness would not just bring an ingredient and move on. And yet, they still are part of the intrinsic value of the story. Because of my oldest child, the soup would be the exact right temperature and perhaps not too heavy on okra. My daughter would satisfy the sweet tooth of the hypothetical village while keeping their fingers clean. They would both pack up bowls of soup for their gifted peers that decided to stay home reading instead of attending the soup ceremony. Sometimes gifted kids just jump straight into the soup pot and stand waiting for their next move or a reaction. Sometimes, they don’t get to eat from the same soup as everyone else because they are way too early to the line and there is only a rock in the pot. My son isn’t allowed to make “real” soup anymore because he has nearly set the microwave on fire many times but can do advanced calculus without faltering. If your microwave is coated in a scorched soup experiment or you have a gifted child in your classroom with a pile of rocks and no place to put them, I am your Julia Child for gifted kids. Not every week will be about the Joy of Gifted Kids. Some weeks may be the stark reality of difficulties in differentiation or asynchrony or assessments. My children do provide me with a parental perspective on the world of gifted kids but I also come at this as an educator. After I get the microwave cleaned up and Kahn Academy queued up, I will bring parents and educators practical ideas and ways to guide and learn about gifted kids. All the while still knowing when to just stir the soup pot and tell them to sit down and eat.
